Reject Kulbhushan Jadhav mercy plea, Lahore High Court petitioned

Source:- indiatoday.intoday.in

Two separate petitions have landed at the Lahore High Court seeking that Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav’s mercy plea be rejected.

Jadhav, a former Indian Navy officer, was convicted of espionage by a Pakistani military court and was sentenced to death by hanging. Jadhav subsequently filed a mercy plea, petitioning Pakistan Army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa to commute his death sentence.

One of the petitions in front of the Lahore High Court is by a civilian named Mehmood Naqvi, who is well known in the court circuits for filing irrelevant pleas. The petition, filed in English, claims that Jadhav is an Indian spy and has twice confessed to being involved in incidents of terrorism in Pakistan.

Naqvi’s plea asks Lahore High Court to direct General Bajwa that he reject Jadhav’s mercy plea.

The other petition has been filed by the Lahore High Court Bar Association (LCBA) and also demands that the General Bajwa be asked not to accept Jadhav’s mercy plea.

LCBA’s petition states that as per Islam and Sunnah, only families of those killed in terror attacks allegedly planned and executed by Kulbashan, have the right to give mercy to Kulbashan. The chief of army staff General Bajwa, Pakistani president or any other figure do not hold any authority to allow Jadhav mercy, the petition states.

Jadhav, who Pakistan claims is an agent of India’s external intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), was sentenced to death on April 10 after finding him guilty of being involved in terror activities.

India, which rejected Pakistan’s charge, slammed the ‘farcical’ trial under which Jadhav was sentenced to death. Later, New Delhi dragged Islamabad to the International Court of Justice, where it managed to win a stay on Jadhav’s death sentence.

The proceedings at the ICJ are ongoing.