India has taken the first legal action against the Pakistani military court’s awarding of death sentence to ex-Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav who was allegedly arrested in the Balochistan area of Pakistan, last month.

On April 26, India filed a petition in a Pakistani court against the sentence and Gautam Bambawale, Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan, handed the petition to Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua in Islamabad.

The petition, signed by Jadhav’s mother on his behalf, was under Section 133(B) (seeking to go to Court of Appeals) of the Pakistan Army Act.

The Indian government has also asked for consular access to Jadhav. This is the 16th time India has asked for this access, having been refused all 15 times before.

Bambawale had told the media that he had asked for a certified copy of the chargesheet and judgement so that India could appeal against the sentence.

While the 46-year-old Jadhav’s sentence was passed by the Pakistani Army in a Field General Court Marshal, Pakistan maintains that due judicial process was followed in the trial, with a lawyer provided in accordance with the Constitution of Pakistan. 

Pakistan also maintains that the Geneva Convention clauses won’t apply in this case because this was a case of spying and national security.

—By India Legal Bureau