ISLAMABAD: Law Minister Farogh Nasim on Friday said the media reports claiming that the federal government had passed an ordinance to reprieve Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav from his conviction were untrue.

He said this while speaking at the National Assembly, shortly after swearing in as federal minister for law. He said Jadhav was arrested on Mar 3, 2016 from Balochistan and at that time the then government had decided not to give him consular access.

Farogh Naseem said India raised the issue with the International court of Justice on Mar 3, 2016 and on Jul 17, 2019 the ICJ asked Pakistan to review the death penalty of the Indian spy and provide him consular access. He clarified that the ICJ did not ask for releasing the RAW agent.

“Pakistan then enacted the International Court of Justice (Review and Reconsideration) Ordinance, 2020 in light of this verdict,” he said.

Federal Minister Naseem said that being a responsible state Pakistan had promulgated an Ordinance to give effect to the ICJ judgment in Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav case.

He said the ICJ, in its judgment, had asked Pakistan for effective review and reconsideration of the sentence of Commander Kulbhushan Jadhav announced by the Military Court of Pakistan on charges of espionage. He said it was obligatory for Pakistan to comply with the ICJ judgment; otherwise India can move UN Security Council to get imposed sanctions against Pakistan.

The MQM senator said the Ordinance did not call for setting aside the decision of the Military Court and it was only aimed at complying with the ICJ judgment.

The minister stressed that the Ordinance should be passed by the Parliament to make it law as it was neither an NRO, appeal nor a personal specific legislation. It was also applicable for any such situation in future giving the right to a person guilty of espionage to file an appeal in the Islamabad High Court for effective review instead of taking the matter to ICJ, he maintained.

The House will now meet again on Monday at 4 pm.