Kulbhushan Jadhav, the Indian national sentenced to death in Pakistan for spying, is now facing trial on charges of terrorism and sabotage.
According to Pakistani daily Dawn, an official said that 47-year-old Jadhav has multiple cases related to terrorism and sabotage against him.
The official added that the case in which was sentenced to death by a military court in April 2017 was related to spying alone.
Quoting the official, Dawn reported that Pakistan wants to question 13 Indian officials but didn’t name any. The intention, according to the official, is “to reach Jadhav’s handlers”.
It is unclear whether the trial that Jadhav now faces is being conducted by a military court.
India filed an appeal in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague on 8 May 2017 to put a stay on the death sentence handed to Jadhav by the Field General Court Martial (FGCM) in Pakistan.
A 10-member Bench at the ICJ on 18 May 2017 ruled in India’s favour restraining Pakistan from executing Jadhav till adjudication of the case.
While Islamabad claims that Pakistani authorities arrested Jadhav from Balochistan on 3 March 2016, New Delhi maintains that he was kidnapped from Iran.
According to India, Jadhav is a retired Indian Navy official who was in Iran for his business interests.
The paper said that Pakistan has also sought information about Jadhav’s Navy service file, bank record of his pension payment, issuance of the passport in the name of Mubarak Hussain Patel, and whether it was original or fake.
Pakistan not only denied consular access to Jadhav sought by India but also “humiliated” his mother and wife when they met him in Islamabad. After the meeting in December 2017, New Delhi said that the women were not allowed to speak in their mother tongue, forced to change their clothes, their mangalsutra and bindi were removed, and shoes of Jadhav’s wife were never returned.
The ICJ is currently hearing an Indian petition challenging Pakistan’s refusal to grant consular access to the spy. India has been given time till 17 April 2018 to file written pleadings while Pakistan has been given time to respond to the same by 17 July.