On the third day of hearing of Kulbhushan Jadhav case, India strongly objected to the abusive language used by Pakistan's counsel Khawar Qureshi at The International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Making the final arguments, senior advocate Harish Salve says words like 'shameless', 'arrogant', 'nonsensical' and 'laughable' have been used many times in Pakistan's submissions. "India takes exception to being addressed in this fashion. I would let the matter rest as Indian culture prevents me from indulging in a similar language of insults," ANI quoted Salve as saying.
"A criticism of a sovereign state of the case made out of the other state must be in language consistent with the dignity of other states."
In his closing argument, senior advocate Salve said the time has come for this court to take this law forward and make Article 36 a potent weapon for protecting human rights.
Deepak Mittal, Joint Secretary of Ministry of External Affairs, read out the relief sought by India with regards to Kulbhushan Jadhav. "Government of India requests this court to adjudge and declare that Pakistan acted in egregious breach of Article 36 of Vienna Convention," he said.
"India urges ICJ to annul the decision of Pakistani military court, a direct fair trial in civilian court, and grant full consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav."
Also Read: Kulbhushan Jadhav case: India's demand for release outlandish, says Pakistan's Khawar Qureshi
India was given a maximum of 90 minutes to make its second round of submissions in the four-day trial which began on Monday. The trial started at a time when tensions between India and Pakistan have skyrocketed after Pulwama terror attack that left 40 CRPF personnel dead.
Harish Salve, who is representing India and Kulbhushan Jadhav in the ICJ, said Humpty Dumpty has no place in this court. "India believes we have a strong case. When you are strong on the law you hammer the law, when you are strong on facts you hammer facts. And when you have neither you hammer the table. Pakistan has hammered the proverbial table," Salve said, ANI has reported.
Lashing out at Pakistan, the senior lawyer said that Indian nationalist Kulbhushan Jadhav has become a pawn in Pakistan's tool to divert international scrutiny from itself. Referring to the deadliest ever terrorist attack on Indian soil in Pulwama, he said that the attack received universal condemnation. He also cited the terrorist attack in Iran, which killed a number of Revolutionary Guards.
On the first day of trial, India had said that Pakistan's continued custody of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav without any consular access should be declared "unlawful" as it was an egregious violation of the Vienna Convention. Indian said that the neighbouring nation was using the issue of Kulbhushan Jadhav as a "propaganda tool" without even following the due proper procedure.
Also Read: Kulbhushan Jadhav case: Pakistan's story has been blurry on facts, says Harish Salve at ICJ
On the second day of hearing, Pakistan in its submission said that India's demand for release of Kulbhushan Jadhav is outlandish. Pakistan's Attorney General Anwar Mansoor Khan says that Jadhav's activities were an actual manifestation of Indian policy. India failed to explain why Jadhav was allowed to travel 17 times on fake passport. "Since 1947, India has pursued a policy of destroying Pakistan. Indian PM Narendra Modi is on record to have said using water as a weapon against Pakistan," Khan said.
Kulbhushan Jadhav, 48, is a retired Indian Navy officer, who was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and terrorism in April 2017. He was later allowed to meet his mother and wife after a long and arduous 22-month wait on December 25, 2017.
A 10-member bench of the ICJ, which was set up after World War II to resolve international disputes, on May 9, 2018 stayed the death sentence to Kulbhushan Jadhav after India had moved a petition before the UN body to seek justice for him, alleging violation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations by Pakistan.
The court has been adjourned for the day. In the four-day hearing in the Jadhav case, that opened on Monday at the UN court headquarters in The Hague, Pakistan will make its closing submissions on February 21.