All eyes are on the International Court of Justice that will deliver on Wednesday its verdict on Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav, sentenced to death for alleged espionage by a Pakistani military court.
The ICJ is expected to pronounce its verdict on Jadhav, 48, a retired Indian naval officer, at around 6.30 p.m. Indian Standard time. A 13-member delegation from Pakistan, led by its Attorney General Anwar Mansoor, is at The Hague. The verdict in the high-profile case comes nearly five months after a 15-member bench of ICJ led by Judge Yusuf had reserved its decision on February 21 after hearing oral submissions by India and Pakistan. The proceedings of the case took two years and two months to complete.
Here's what we know so far about the case:
Pakistan claims to have arrested Jadhav on March 3, 2016, from Mashkel area of Balochistan. It claims that he has been involved in espionage and sabotage activities.
According to reports, Jadhav has allegedly obtained a fake passport in the name of Hussein Mubarak Patel from Pune in November 2003.
Reports suggest that Jadhav was working in Iran under this fake name.
Pakistan armed forces had released Jadhav's video confession within a week of his arrest. The video has been found 'doctored' by the Indian government and many experts.
The video shows Jadhav confessing that he was tasked by India's Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) to plan, coordinate and organise espionage and sabotage aiming to destabilise and wage war against Pakistan.
Indian embassy in Pakistan has been trying for consular access to Jadhav. However, Pakistan has denied nearly 15 such requests by India, citing Jadhav's involvement in "subversive activities".
As there was no concrete evidence against Jadhav, he was put on a secret trial by a Pakistani military court, which found him guilty on two counts of espionage and sentenced him to death.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh said: "He went out of India for business. Pakistani agencies kidnapped him. He was carrying an Indian passport. Do spies carry passports?"
Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said that Jadhav had a right to appeal against his death sentence within 40 days, and he would not be executed immediately.
Jadhav joined the Indian Navy in 1987. An Indian Navy official confirmed that Jadhav was at INS Shivaji from 1991 to 1993. He later opted for Marine Commando Force (MCF).
Jadhav's mother, Avanti Jadhav, owns a flat at High Point CHS in Navi Mumbai. Kulbhushan had rented the flat as Hussein Mubarak Patel in 2007. He used to visit the flat two-three times a month with a backpack and leave in 15-20 minutes.
A bench of the ICJ, which was set up after World War II to resolve international disputes, on May 18, 2017 had restrained Pakistan from executing Jadhav till adjudication of the case.
A four-day public hearing in the high-profile case took place in February amidst heightened tensions between India and Pakistan following one of the worst terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed terror group that killed 40 CRPF soldiers on February 14.
During the hearing in ICJ, both India and Pakistan submitted their detailed pleas and responses.
India based its case on two broad issues -- breach of Vienna Convention on consular access and the process of resolution.
Harish Salve, who was representing India in the case, questioned the functioning of Pakistan's notorious military courts and urged the top UN court to annul Jadhav's death sentence, which is based on an "extracted confession".
In his submission in the ICJ on the last day of the hearing, Pakistan's counsel Khawar Qureshi said, "India's claim for relief must be dismissed or declared inadmissible."
Pakistan claims that its security forces arrested Jadhav from restive Balochistan province on March 3, 2016 after he reportedly entered from Iran.
However, India maintains that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests after retiring from the Navy.
Pakistan had rejected India's plea for consular access to Jadhav at the ICJ, claiming that New Delhi wants the access to get the information gathered by its "spy".
However, Pakistan facilitated a meeting of Jadhav with his mother and wife in Islamabad on December 25, 2017.
(Inputs from Agencies)
