Hyderabad: Despite the International Court of Justice ruled that Kulbhushan Jadhav's death sentence "should remain suspended until Pakistan effectively reviews and reconsiders the conviction and sentence," on the lines of India's stand that Islamabad had violated the Vienna Convention by denying consular access to Jadhav after his conviction in a farcical closed trial, the media in Islamabad has projected the other way round.
Minutes after the ICJ ruling, Pakistan's Geo TV ran a headline saying: "ICJ dismisses India’s plea for Kulbhushan Jadhav’s release". The news read, “The International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Wednesday found that India’s submission pertaining to the release of Kulbhushan Jadhav’s could not be upheld.”
It crossed the limits by adding: “According to the ICJ, the conviction and sentence of Kulbhushan Jadhav were not to be regarded as a violation of Article 36 of the Vienna Convention.”
The widely circulated English circulated news daily Dawn though carried a headline “ICJ grants India consular access to Jadhav”, in the body, however, it failed to mention that the death sentence "should remain suspended until Pakistan effectively reviews and reconsiders the conviction and sentence.”
The Dawn played down the seriousness of the ICJ ruling by simply putting: “The International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Wednesday announced its verdict on India’s petition challenging the death sentence given to Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav, ruling that Jadhav be allowed consular access and asking Pakistan to ensure “effective review and reconsideration of his conviction and sentences”.
Similarly, the ARY- ICJ, a digital portal went on to say that the ICJ “judgement in Jadhav case, rejects most remedies sought by India.” In the opening lines it said: “The court has rejected most of the remedies sought by India, including annulment of military court decision convicting Jadhav, his release and safe passage to India.”
Read also: ICJ tells Pakistan to review conviction, sentencing of Jadhav
