Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: A legislative body of the Upper House of Parliament on Monday criticised the government for mishandling the Kulbhushan Jadhav case in the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The Senate’s Standing Committee on Interior and Narcotics Control met at the Parliament Lodges. Senator A Rehman Malik chaired the meeting.

The lawmakers criticised the government, claiming that the ICJ had no jurisdiction to hear the case. “It is a matter of Pakistani national security and sovereignty,” they said.

Malik regretted that the government had accepted ICJ‘s jurisdiction in the case. “According to a bilateral agreement signed between India and Pakistan on May 21, 2008, both countries are no longer bound to give counselor access to individuals involved in terrorist and spying activities or in espionage. Hence, Article 36 of Vienna Convention is not applicable in this case,” he said.

Malik termed it a pre-planned international conspiracy. “This is to ensure that he is freed. The government should have taken the case to the UN before India took it to the ICJ. However, the case was mishandled,” he said.

The committee was of the view that Pakistan should take the matter to the UN. The committee claimed that Pakistan had enough evidence to prove Indian involvement in Pakistan. “The Indian prime minister himself confessed that India was undermining the territorial integrity of Pakistan. Both the Indian PM and the interior minister have already confessed to their interference in Pakistan, especially in Balochistan,” he said.

The committee asked the government why no ad-hoc judge appointed and why did Khawar Qureshi proceed with the case in such a situation. “The government must answer what procedure it adopted for the appointment of the lawyer and why no local judge was appointed. Why was the lawyer not accompanied by any official from the Law Ministry?” the members asked.

The meeting also condemned the terrorist attack on Senate Deputy Chairman Abdul Ghafoor Haidri and police officials in Karachi. The senators said that terrorists wanted to destabilise Pakistan, but they would not succeed in their nefarious designs.

The committee also expressed concern over the absence of the interior minister from the meeting. Senator Mukhtiar Ahmed Dhamrah staged a walkout in protest over the absence of interior minister. Senator Israrullah Zehri said that Chaudhry Nisar had failed to show respect to the committee.

The committee also discussed the Illegal Dispossession Amendment Bill, 2017. Senator A Rehman Malik said land grabbing should be made a non-bailable crime. “The properties of overseas Pakistanis are being grabbed in their absence and the mafia is harassing the poor and oppressed after grabbing their lands. Unfortunately, land grabbers are so powerful that their victims are afraid to proceed against them,” he said.

The committee also demanded that the government allocate a separate budget for the security of CPEC instead of mixing it with budget for other purposes.

The committee also asked the government to brief the committee on the revelations made by Ehsanullah Ehsan. Committee members also urged the government not to present terrorists as heroes on television.

The meeting was attended by Senator Col (r) Syed Tahir Hussain Mashhadi, Senator Muhammad Ali Khan Saif, Senator Dr Jehanzeb Jamaldini, Senator Mukhtiar Ahmed Dhamrah, Senator Syed Shibli Faraz, Senator Muhammad Shah and Senator Israrullah Zehri and senior officials of the Ministry of Interior, Islamabad Police IG, the Islamabad commissioner, Mardan RPO Muhammad Aslam Shinwari, the Ministry of Defence additional secretary and senior officials of Anti-Narcotics Force.