KARACHI: The International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Wednesday rejected the Indian request of releasing its spy Kulbhushan Jadhav.

“Commander Jadhav will remain in custody of Pakistan,” the international court announced. The court verdict was read by Judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf live on television.

The legal teams of India and Pakistan were at the ICJ, The Hague, to hear the verdict. Pakistani representatives were headed by Attorney General Anwar Mansoor Khan. Foreign Office Spokesperson Dr Muhammad Faisal was also present on this occasion.

The ICJ has said that Pakistan should grant the commander consular access. It has also asked Pakistan to review the decision of the military court and reconsider its conviction and sentence. The court has ordered to suspend the execution until fulfilling the said conditions.

“A continued stay of execution constitutes an indispensable condition for the effective review and reconsideration of the conviction and sentence of Mr. Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav,” the ICJ said.

Federal Minister for Science & Technology Fawad Chaudhary hailed the ICJ verdict saying that it upheld Pakistan’s rights to try Kulbhushan Jadhav in a military court.

Now, Pakistan is most likely to ask the court to review its decision.

Pakistan had raised three objections on Indian stance.

India could not show original passport of the suspect. While, the court believes that Jadhav passport with name of Hossein Mubarak Patel was original.

The court said that Pakistan did not provide clear evidence in the case.

Kulbhushan Jadhav is a serving commander of the Indian Navy associated with Indian spy agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).

On a tip-off, security forces of Pakistan arrested Jadhav on March 3, 2016, from Balochistan on allegations of espionage and terrorism. A fake passport was recovered from his possession with pseudo name of Hossein Mubarak Patel.

During a trial at a military court, the spy had confessed to his involvement in terror activities. On April 10, 2017, Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa had endorsed the death sentence for Jadhav.