ICJ to deliver verdict on Jadhav case on July 17

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) will on July 17 delivers its judgement on New Delhi's plea against Islamabad over the detention of former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav in Pakistan.

Judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf, President of the International Court of Justice, will read out the decision of the court at around 6.30 pm Indian Standard Time on July 17, a spokesperson of the principal judicial organ of the United Nations stated on Thursday.

Jadhav has been in the custody of the Pakistan Army since March 2016. Islamabad turned down the repeated request by New Delhi to grant consular access to him. He was awarded death sentence by a military court in Pakistan in April 2017 for allegedly working for India's external intelligence agency Research and Analytical Wing (RAW) and for being involved with espionage and sabotage in the neighbouring country, particularly in restive Balochistan.

New Delhi on May 8, 2017, moved the ICJ, accusing Pakistan of “egregious violation” of 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.

The ICJ on May 18, 2017, asked Islamabad not to execute the death sentence awarded to Jadhav till it decided on the plea by India.

The public hearing on the case before the ICJ concluded on February 21 this year.