By Parsa Venkateshwar Rao Jr

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ruled on Thursday that Kulbhushan Jadhav shall not be executed until the case is decided on merits.

President of the court, Judge Ronny Abraham, reading out the order in English, pointed out that the court has jurisdiction in the matter, rejecting Pakistan’s contention that it (ICJ) does not have a say in the matter because Jadhav is being tried for espionage and not for general crimes.

The court has acceded to the Indian demand for provisional measures of protecting India from “irreparable prejudice” by asking Pakistan not to execute Jadhav.

The court noted that Pakistan had assured that Jadhav would not be executed before the end of August, 2017, but the court said that Pakistan was obliged not to execute Jadhav.

It was made clear that the issue of the merits of the case against Jadhav remains to be decided, and that Thursday’s order does not go into the question.