New Delhi: A week after Pakistan announced that Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav had declined to file a review petition challenging his death sentence, Indian consular officials walked out of the second scheduled consular access granted to him in protest. India alleged that Pakistan had not given its officials “unimpeded, unhindered and unconditional access” as per assurances.This afternoon, the Pakistan foreign affairs ministry had issued a statement saying that two Indian high commission officials were “were provided unimpeded and uninterrupted consular access to Commander Jadhav at 1500 hours.”Following that, MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava confirmed at the weekly briefing that “our officials have proceeded” for the meetings on the basis of assurance.A couple of hours later, Srivastava issued a detailed statement that indicated that the expected meeting with Jadhav was truncated.JUST INIndia says that Indian Consular Officers were not given unimpeded, unhindered and unconditional access to #KulbhushanJadhav by Pakistan.– Pakistani officers were present– meeting was being recorded– prevented from obtaining written permission for legal representation pic.twitter.com/hl8aXnPLJJ— Devirupa Mitra (@DevirupaM) July 16, 2020“Regrettably, however, neither the environment nor the arrangements of the meeting were in accordance with the assurances of Pakistan. The Consular Officers were not given unimpeded, unhindered and unconditional access to Shri Jadhav,” he said.Srivastava noted that despite protests from the Indian side, Pakistani officials “with an intimidating demeanour were present in close proximity” to Jadhav and the Indian officials. “It was also evident from a camera that was visible that the conversation with Shri Jadhav was being recorded,” he said.MEA’s spokesperson said that Jadhav was also “visibly under stress,” which he indicated “clearly to the Consular officers”.Asserting that the arrangement did not permit “free conversation,” Srivastava added that consular officers could not engage Jadhav on his legal rights and were prevented from obtaining his written consent for arranging his legal representation.Also read: Jadhav Was ‘Coerced’ by Pakistan to Refuse Review of His Death Sentence, India ClaimsLast week, Pakistan’s additional attorney general Ahmed Irfan announced that Jadhav had been invited to file a review petition to his sentence in the Islamabad high court as per the provisions of the ‘International court of justice review and reconsideration ordinance 2020’ promulgated on May 20.Jadhav had apparently declined, which India said it saw as a sign of coercion.The time given for filing a review petition is a period of 60 days from the date of the promulgation of ordinance is. This deadline is on July 20. As per the ordinance, a petition for review and reconsideration can be filed by Jadhav, or a legally authorised representative, or a consular officer of Indian high commission.Srivastava pointed out that if the Indian high commission had to file a petition before the high court, then “contacts and conversations between the Consular Officer and Shri Jadhav assume great importance.”“Any conversation between them must necessarily take place in privacy and without the presence of any Pakistani official or recording by Pakistan.” In a private conversation, Jadhav could “speak freely without any concerns of reprisal as he remains in Pakistani custody after the meeting”.With no unhindered access and recording equipment observed in the venue, the Indian officers concluded that consular access was “neither meaningful nor credible”. “After lodging a protest, they left the venue,” he added.The first consular access took place on September 2, 2019, when the Indian deputy high commissioner Gaurav Ahluwalia had met with Jadhav at a specially created sub-jail in the presence of Pakistani officials. The two hour meeting had taken place as a consequence of the ICJ ruling that Pakistan had been in violation of the Vienna convention for consular relations (VCCR).The first meeting had ben video-recorded and taken place in the Pakistani officials, despite India having insisting on “full” and “unimpeded” consular access.However, Pakistan had asserted that the VCCR does not provide for “private” consular access, with Section 36 (2) directing that the right had to be exercised in “conformity with the laws and regulation of the receiving state”.Even last year, the Pakistan foreign ministry’s statement had claimed that it had “provided unimpeded, uninterrupted consular access to India to Commander Jadhav”.At that time, Indian official sources said that it was important to go ahead with the meeting resulting out of the consular access as it was key to understand Jadhav’s state and wellbeing. It was the first time that Jadhav had met with an Indian official since his incarceration three years ago.Pakistan had arrested Jadhav on March 2016 from Balochistan, saying that he was a serving Indian naval officer who had masterminded several terror incidents inside Pakistan.Also read: Explainer | Kulbhushan Jadhav Case: The Legal ArgumentsThe MEA spokesperson concluded that Pakistan’s approach continues to “obstructive and insincere”. He added that Pakistan “has not only violated its assurance to the ICJ to fully implement the 2019 judgement, but also failed to act in accordance with its own Ordinance”.Noting that India will decide a future course of action “in the light of the events today”, Srivastava also stated that External Affairs minister S Jaishankar spoke to the family of Kulbhushan Jadhav about the latest developments.Note: The article has been updated with news of the eventual outcome of the consular access.
