COLOMBO : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that Buddhism’s message of peace is the answer to the growing phenomenon of terrorism across the world.
  “The biggest challenge to sustainable world peace today may not be necessarily from conflict between the nation states,” Modi said in his address here as the chief guest at the UN-recognised 14th International Vesak Day meant to mark the birth, enlightenment and passing away of Lord Buddha.   “It is from the mindsets, thought streams, entities and instruments rooted in the idea of hate and violence,” he said.   The theme of this year’s International Vesak Day, being hosted by Sri Lanka for the first time, is Buddhist teachings for social justice and sustainable world peace.  The Indian Prime Minister said that the menace of terrorism in the region “is a concrete manifestation of this destructive emotion”.   “Sadly, these ideologies of hate and their proponents in our region are not open to dialogue and hence only open to causing death and destruction,” he said.   “I firmly believe that Buddhism’s message of peace is the answer to growing arc of violence all over the world.”  Modi hoped for not just a negative notion of peace defined by the absence of conflict, “but a positive peace where we all work to promote dialogue, harmony and justice, based on compassion and wisdom”.   Stating that the friendship between India and Sri Lanka was etched in time by Lord Buddha, he said that “Buddhism imparts an ever present radiance to our relationship”.   “As close neighbours, our relationship spreads across many layers. It draws its strength as much through our interconnected values of Buddhism as it does from the limitless possibilities of our shared future.”   The Indian Prime Minister also announced a new direct flight between Colombo and Varanasi, the place of Lord Buddha’s first sermon.  “This will ease travel to the land of Buddha for my brothers and sisters from Sri Lanka, and help you directly visit Sravasti, Kusinagar, Sankasa, Kaushambi and Sarnath,” he said.   “My Tamil brothers and sisters will also be able to visit Varanasi, the land of Kashi Viswanath.”  Stating that India was committed to the economic prosperity of Sri Lanka, Modi said: “We will continue to invest in driving positive change and economic growth to deepen our development cooperation.”   He also called for free flow of trade, investments, technology, and ideas between India and Sri Lanka for mutual benefit.   “India’s rapid growth can bring dividends for the entire region, especially in Sri Lanka. In infrastructure and connectivity, transport and energy, we are poised to scale up our cooperation,” Modi stated.   “Our development partnership stretches across nearly every sector of human activity such as agriculture, education, health, resettlement, transport, power, culture, water, shelter, sports, and human resources.”  He also mentioned that India’s development cooperation with Sri Lanka amounted to $2.6 billion.   “Its only aim is to support Sri Lanka in realising a peaceful, prosperous and secure future for its people,” Modi said. “Because, the economic and social wellbeing of the people of Sri Lanka is linked with that of 1.25 billion Indians.”   Modi arrived in Colombo on Thursday on a two-day visit at the invitation of Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena.  This is his second visit to the Indian Ocean island nation as Prime Minister after his visit in March 2015.

NEW DELHI: All future polls to Parliament and State Assemblies will have EVMs with Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT), the Chief Election Commissioner Dr, Nasim Zaidi said on Friday. 

He said that VVPATs slips of a percentage of EVMs, to be determined by the ECI, will be counted. The CEC was speaking at a  day-long meeting of national and state political parties, convened by the EC, mainly to discuss the issue of EVMs and VVPATs. Seven national and 35 State political parties attended Friday’s  meeting.

To counter allegations of EVM tampering and manipulation in the recently concluded polls to state assemblies, the CEC announced that a challenge was on the cards. He said that an opportunity would be on offer to political parties to demonstrate that EVMs used in the recent polls were tampered or that EVMs can be tampered even under the laid down technical and administrative safeguards. 

The CEC said that Commission is open to hear suggestions on how to further improve integrity and credibility of EVMs.

Stressing that EC had “no favourites’’,  Dr. Zaidi said: “You should be convinced that the Election Commission has no favourites…we maintain equidistance from all parties and groups. It is our constitutional and moral duty to stand dead centre of the circle drawn around us by 56 political parties [seven national and 49 State recognised parties].

All issues related to the  EVMs and VVPATs  were discussed and the parties were assured of the credibility of the machines by demonstrating the step by step procedure about how the EVM’s were foolproof. The secure design features of the machines were explained in detail to the parties.

Dr. Zaidi said that to make the election process more transparent, the Commission has made proposal for electoral reforms on misuse of money power and bribery during elections. The Commission has also made proposal for amendments in the Income Tax Act and in the Representation of People’s Act, 1951, for enhancing transparency in the funding of political parties.

The EC highlighted the wide range of technical, administrative protocol and procedural safeguards that fortify the EVMs and VVPATs against any sort of manipulation or tampering.

Several parties, including the AAP, the BSP and the Congress had blamed ”tampered machines” for the BJP’s victory in the recently held  Assembly polls. Akali leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa said that EVMs were tamper-proof and that of the 37 cases filed so far, 30 have been decided in favour of machines. The Akalis have gracefully accepted the electoral defeat in Punjab, but the AAP has not, he added.

AAP MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj, who had held a  ”demonstration” in the Delhi Assembly on the so-called hacking of the EVM, said the Commission had backed out from organising a ”hackathon”.

SRINAGAR : The picture of a schoolgirl holding a basketball under her arm while kicking a vehicle of the security forces has become iconic because it sets the narrative for the ongoing students unrest in Kashmir.

It all started on April 15 when security forces entered the degree college in Pulwama town and roughed up students inside the campus.

Ever since the separatist violence started in the state in the early 1990s, the walls between institutions and the security forces have crumbled. Raids to trace out militants have been carried out a number of times in educational institutions during the last 27 years.

What actually acted as a catalyst for the present unrest were the pictures of the students being beaten up inside the college on April 15. These pictures went viral on social media sites, triggering a spiral of unrest ever since.

Supporters of the students’ unrest maintain that these pictures were posted by the security forces to avenge the manhandling of some troopers by the youth in central Badgam district on April 9 during Parliamentary by-polls in the Srinagar-Badgam constituency.

“If it becomes an eye-for-an-eye situation between the security forces and the youth, then all of us would be shortly blind,” said a student who obviously did not want to be named.

The state government has shifted senior district police officers from Pulwama for mishandling the April 15 situation.

Education Minister Altaf Bukhari has advised students to attend classes and focus on their careers.

“All the grievances of the students will be addressed. They are within their rights to stage peaceful protests within the educational institutions, but they should not hit the roads.

“Once the students hit the roads, blocking traffic and hurling stones, it becomes a law and order problem where the security forces have to intervene,” the minister told the media here.

He has also started a series of meetings with heads of educational institutions to reclaim the sanctity of these institutions in the Valley.

Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has expressed confidence that the situation will soon return to normal.

“We have seen worse days in the past. Things will return to normal soon. I request the media, especially the electronic TV channels, not to project the local youth in a bad light.

“Every Kashmiri youth is not a stone pelter,” she said on April 8 on the day the civil secretariat began functioning in Srinagar after its six-month-long sojourn in winter capital Jammu.

The Valley’s police chief, Inspector General of Police S.J.M. Gilani, told a media conference that “outside elements” had been responsible for fomenting trouble in the educational institutions.

He also said there was evidence that money had been used to start trouble in a local college and school in north Kashmir’s Handwara town last week.

While asserting that the students’ unrest was being properly handled, the top police officer said 95 youths had joined militant ranks since last year and a total of 200 militants were at present active in the Valley.

Given the magnitude of the students’ protests during the ongoing unrest, there is little doubt that the police and the paramilitary forces are handling the situation with utmost restraint.

Stone-hurling recently brought down a boundary wall of a college in Srinagar: to use the bricks for pelting at traffic and the security forces.

On Maulana Azad Road, Residency Road and city centre Lal Chowk, clashes between students and security forces continued for over five hours.

While five police officers were injured, only two protesting students sustained minor injuries.

Similarly, during the protests in Handwara town, the security forces were seen exercising maximum restraint while handling protests by boys and girls of local educational institutions.

There has hardly been a day since April 15 when protests have not been staged by students in one or the other part of the Valley.

Schools and colleges at some places were temporarily shut and then re-opened so that the academic activities of the students did not suffer.

The separatists, while condemning the security forces for fighting the students unrest, have not, fortunately, issued statements to add fuel to the fire.

Politics holding the future of students hostage is a misfortune, but students hitting the streets to hurl stones instead of attending classes is a catastrophe everybody must help Kashmir to come out of.

The BJP’s strategy in approaching an election is indeed different and carefully calibrated which has paid it rich dividends. A case in point is the crucial assembly elections held recently in Uttar Pradesh. The Lotus party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in particular along with his confidant and party president Amit Shah sent the opposition packing not knowing what hit them. 

With the runaway victory in UP, PM Modi appears all set to wrap up a win for the BJP nominee contesting the highest constitutional office of President after the incumbent and 13th Head of State Pranab Mukherjee completes his term on July 25.  

The surprise this time around with several names doing the rounds could well be that of 52-year-old tribal woman from backward region of Odisha Droupadi Murmu, who is the Governor of Jharkhand at present. 

This is also to rub home a point that despite being in power for more than six decades, the Congress has done precious little for the teeming oppressed and depressed classes who have been just left to their fate. The saffron brigade believes that the Congress has, however, not been found wanting in according the necessary lip service.

This forms part of Modi’s efforts to dislodge the Congress as the messiah of the poor. With a clean image as a politician, it is believed the best thing that could have happened to Ms.Murmu was to elevate her to a gubernatorial assignment. 

This could shake up and send shock waves in the political firmament. Such a choice will make people sit up and take note. There is also no doubt that it is bound to be supported by the Tribal MPs in Parliament and the legislatures irrespective of their party affiliations leaving the opposition clueless and leaden footed. 

It may be recalled that the BJP’s gambit of concentrating on the non-Dalit backward classes in the just concluded assembly elections in UP ensured a huge dividend to the BJP far beyond its own expectations. They crossed the 315 mark in the 403-member Vidhan Sabha. 

Even as efforts are underway to forge a United Front, the Congress and other non-BJP parties have approached former Governor, administrator and diplomat Gopalkrishna Gandhi to be the joint opposition candidate for the office of President. He made it clear the conversations have been of a very preliminary nature. 

The non-BJP opposition is facing the usual hiccups in getting its act together. Congress president Sonia Gandhi has taken the lead contacting various leaders including RJD’s Lalu Prasad Yadav and Mulayam Singh Yadav of the SP. 

However, in Lucknow Mulayam Singh Yadav’s younger brother Shivpal Yadav caught everyone by surprise announcing  plans of splitting the SP by floating another outfit. Of course ‘Nejtaji’ as his elder brother Mulayam Singh Yadav is popularly known is to be installed its chief. On his part Netaji claimed he had not been consulted or informed of such a move. He is more keen to see his son and former UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav step down as the SP chief.

Amid calls for Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar’s “ghar vapsi” to the BJP, NC’s Omar Abdullah and former J&K chief minister met Sonia Gandhi last week and discussed the proposed UF.  

TMC supremo and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee is keen to be part of the UF complaining nobody had approached her so far. Sonia Gandhi is expected be meet Ms Banerjee early next week as well as BSP’s Mayawati soon. Odisha’s ruling BJD, the Telengana Rashtra Samiti and some others are also being consulted. 

Lalu is staring at problems with the Supreme Court ordering him to face trial in all the four fodder scam cases which can cast its shadow in knitting the UF. Such Fronts have been mooted in the past but has hardly been successful with Bihar being the lone exception. 

This is a huge wake up call for the leaders of the proposed UF whose performance in the assembly elections over the last two-and-a-half years since Narendra Modi became Prime Minister in May 2014 has been dismal barring the AAP’s mind boggling win in Delhi and the saffron brigade falling by the wayside in Bihar, thanks to the “mahagatbandhan” in 2015. 

Leaders have welcomed Sonia Gandhi’s return to active politics after having taken a back seat for some time. Interestingly, CPM leader Sitaram Yechury has already clarified that the Left’s antipathy towards Trinamul Congress would not be a hurdle in the quest for a larger unity. 

Akhilesh Yadav has also made it clear that the SP has no objection to rival BSP’s inclusion in the front. The aim is to create a national alternative to the BJP in the run up to the next general elections barely two years away in 2019.

At the same time the body language of these leaders is the least convincing in the prevailing circumstances of a Modi phenomenon. 

The BJP led NDA is short of a majority in the electoral college for electing the President. They will require the backing of some regional parties like the ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu for an assured win in the electoral college. 

Mr. Mukherjee has been described as a “copy book” President who has remained steadfast in preserving and protecting the Constitution. 

The country’s first President Rajendra Prasad is the only person who has served two terms in Rashtrapati Bhawan. The previous NDA government headed by BJP stalwart Atal Behari Vajpayee did spring a surprise when it zeroed in on missile man A P J Abdul Kalam for the office of President.

In today’s polarised society with extreme positions acquiring prominence and politics mirroring the same, the new President has to play the role of the next conscience keeper. With growing incidents of intolerance from different parts of the country, the new Head of State will have to prove the government’s commitment to pluralism, inclusiveness and independence of institutions.  

(T R Ramachandran is senior journalist and commentator. The views are personal.)

Health Minister J. P. Nadda has allayed the apprehensions about vaccines and de-worming tablets having harmful side effects on children, and said that the government was seeking support from the community leaders and NGOs to deal with such misconceptions. He said immunization has given positive results in improving health of children.

   “In the new Health Policy there has been shift from being disease centric to prevention and promoting health care in the country. Mission Indradhanush, which is meant for immunization of children, plays a critical role in this prevention and promotion of health care,’’ he said.

 At present, the immunization coverage in the country is 71 percent which is targeted to go up to 90 percent by 2019. The Mission was  named Mission Indradhanush as originally only seven types of vaccines were included in it, but now eleven different vaccines are given under it by the government including those against MMR, Rota virus and against Japanese Encephalitis. These new vaccines have been added to check mortality among children. Rota virus caused diarrhea in ten lakh children of which about one lakh died every year,” Mr Nadda said while interacting with members of Indian Women’s Press Corps.

     He said that involving faith and community leaders and NGO has proved beneficial as they create awareness among the people about any misconception. He said for de-worming children are given Albendazole tablets once a year which is a cost effective means to keep them healthy and helps in reducing the school drop- out rates.  However, there were some complaints of children falling sick after taking the tablets, so we took support from NGOs to remove their misconceptions. Mr Nadda said all the programmes of the government go through a process of testing with committees looking into their various aspects.

   Mr Nadda also assured that India is on track as far as achieving Sustainable Development Goals on health is concerned.  The Infant Mortality Rate and Maternal Mortality Ratio as well as under-five mortality had gone down fast. He said that under the Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMA) 3750 gynecologists and 11,470 facilities have volunteered where specialists come on the 9^th of every month. They have conducted medical check up of about 2.7 lakh high risk pregnancies and provided treatment. He said that the total fertility rate has declined to 2.1 to 2.3 while 147 districts still have high TFR of 3 and above where a wider range of birth control choice is being provided to the people.

      Regarding the serious problem of stunting of children which impacts their health and development and in turn adversely impact the GDP of the country, the Health Minister said that the government is serious about the issue and the universal immunization and various other health programmes would reduce it in future. Moreover, Rs 6000 of financial support is now being given to all the pregnant women for their nutrition and that of the new born child which in turn would reduce stunting.

     He said that a life cycle approach has been adopted under which health assurance is given to women who become pregnant. The government provides weekly iron and folic acid supplement and vaccination for all kinds of diseases including tetanus. He said that programmes like Kilkari under which 72 messages are sent to pregnant women and new mothers at pre-natal and ante-natal stage to create awareness among them about mother and child health and MCTS (Mother and Child Tracking System) tracks crores of women.

    He said that the government had taken a number of steps to provide affordable medicines to the people through AMRIT which is digitally manage. At 54 outlets 18,71000 patients were sold generic medicines worth Rs 173.33 crore for just Rs 73 crore which meant a saving of Rs 105.95 crore which amounts to 60 to 90 percent saving.

NEW DELHI : The Supreme Court on Thursday heard a batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of “triple talaq” and to know whether it was fundamental to Islam.  “We are going to decide the validity of triple talaq,” said Chief Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar, heading a Constitution bench.  He asked the parties concerned to focus on whether triple talaq was fundamental to Islamic religion.    The Chief Justice said that petitioners and respondents would address the court on whether triple talaq was an enforceable fundamental right.    The bench sought suggestions on the broad parameters of the directions the court may issue while deciding the validity of triple talaq.    Other judges on the Constitution bench are Justice Kurian Joseph, Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman, Justice Uday Umesh Lalit and Justice S. Abdul Nazeer.    The court said both sides would get two days each to argue their case. Thereafter, both sides would get a day each to submit rejoinders.    Triple talaq is a practice under which a husband can verbally divorce his wife by uttering the word “talaq” thrice.  This has been opposed by a section of the Muslim society while others say it cannot be changed as it is part of Muslim personal law.  The Modi government wants triple talaq to go. The practice is not followed in many Muslim countries including Pakistan.

Road traffic crashes remain the number one cause of death among young people aged 15–29 years. They are estimated to cost countries from 3-5% of GDP and push many families into poverty.
Approximately 1.25 million people die on the world’s roads every year. Typically, 40-50% of the drivers go over posted speed limits, and if those on the driving seat are male, young and under the influence of alcohol are more likely to be involved in speed-related crashes.
These facts have be revealed in a new report, Managing speed, by the World Health Organization (WHO), which suggests that excessive or inappropriate speed contributes to one in every three road traffic fatalities worldwide. Measures to address speed prevent road traffic deaths and injuries, and make populations healthier and cities more sustainable.
Yet, only 47 countries of the world follow good practice on one of the main speed management measures, namely implementing an urban speed limit of 50 km/h or less and allowing local authorities to reduce these limits further on roads around schools, residences, and businesses.
The situation in India is no different, According to police data from 2015, 43.7 % of the total road crashed were due to over-speeding which caused 60,969 deaths and 2,12,815 persons injured. Â“The UN Road Safety Week theme this year is speed and the numbers above tell us exactly why the focus needs to be #slowdown. Between 50 km/hr to 80 km/hr, the chances of death in the case of a crash are increased from 20 to 60%. Doing the maths over 40 000 lives could have been saved in India in 2015 by just slowing down,” says Dr Jagnoor Jagnoor, Head of the Injury Division at the George Institute India. According to her, “There are 4E’s to road safety – education, engineering, enforcement and emergency medical services. So the approaches to managing speed include modifying roads that calm traffic such as round-about, speed bumps; establishing and enforcing speed limits, raising awareness about the dangers of speeding and assisting with in-vehicle technology to manage speed.” The George Institute for Global Health India conducted a study of 2200 people in three hospitals in North India with one of its collaborators Dr. Shankar Prinja, from PGI, Chandigarh highlighting the health, social and economic burden of road injuries. It was revealed that 10% of people die post- discharge and that more than a third of the family’s experienced financial distress due to injuries. It is the young economically productive age group that is highest at risk, 15-29-year-olds and it is estimated that the total cost of road injuries is 3% of India’s GDP, which is more than our entire health budget. Speed management measures include building or modifying roads to include features that calm traffic such as roundabouts, speed bumps, establishing speed limits appropriate to the function of each road and enforcing speed limits through the use of manual and automated controls.
Installing in-vehicle technologies in new cars, such as intelligent speed assistance and autonomous emergency braking in addition to raising awareness about the dangers of speed are some other measures to prevent road accidents, the report says.
 Road traffic fatality rates are nearly three times lower in Europe compared to Africa. Countries that have had the most success in drastically reducing rates of road traffic death and injury in recent decades – Netherlands, Sweden, and the United Kingdom among them – are those that have addressed the issue holistically. They have prioritized safe speed as one of four components of the safe system approach, along with safe roads and roadsides, safe vehicles, and safe road users. Within countries, municipal leaders have greatly contributed to a growing movement – often instigated at local level – to transform cities into more livable places for all. By reducing speed and improving safety, their populations benefit from the added advantages of increases in walking and cycling and reductions in air and noise pollution. Such actions, in turn, have positive health benefits on rates of cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and other non-communicable diseases, the report suggests.

In a bid to curb the online Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has asked all Internet Service Providers (ISPs) having Cable Landing Station Gateways / International Long Distance licenses in India, to prevent the distribution and transmission of such content into India by adopting and implementing Internet Watch Foundation Resources on or before 31st July 2017. 
Containing the spread of online CSAM is an important public policy goal for India, and the government is taking immediate steps to control this menace, a statement issued by the Ministry has said. The publication or transmission of material depicting children in sexually explicit act or conduct in electronic form is a heinous crime, specifically prohibited by Section 67B of the Information Technology Act, 2000, the statement added.
The Supreme Court in Kamlesh Vaswani vs Union of India had also directed the Union of India to take positive steps to tackle the issue of CSAM.
The notification issued by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology instructs all ISP’s to observe the existing due diligence requirements prescribed by the Central government under the Information Technology Act, 2000 and Rules and Regulations, including the obligation to expeditiously remove or disable access to any unlawful content brought to its notice by relevant authorities.
In December 2016, the Central government had constituted an Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) to recommend specific solutions to address the issue of online CSAM. The IMC observed that most of such online CSAM is being hosted outside India and the websites/URLs containing such content are dynamic in nature and frequently changing, making it difficult to identify and block such content.  No centralized mechanism exists in India to monitor online CSAM. Globally, there exist only a few major resources that provide a dynamic list of websites/URLs identifying online CSAM.  The IMC recommended that till such time a centralized mechanism is built in India to dynamically monitor websites/URLs containing online CSAM, the relevant ISP’s in India should adopt and disable/remove the online CSAM dynamically based on the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) list.
The Internet Watch Foundation maintains such a list of dynamically updated websites/URLs containing online CSAM.  The IWF has been adopted by many countries and is already being implemented by leading online service providers in other jurisdictions. IWF resources are available to ISPs on a subscription basis, either individually or collectively, the statement added.
Currently, all Internet Service Providers have an obligation to observe certain due diligence requirements and remove or disable access to content which is considered pedophilic or harms minors in any way as per the law.

ers to extend free legal aid to the poor litigants. 

“To make judiciary more effective, use of forensic science and technology is very important… the world is moving very fast and we have to cope up to avoid being left behind,” he said. 

Chief Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar in his introductory remarks elaborating how the Integrated Case Management System (ICMS) would involve one time filing of the case said that it would be totally transparent and secure with all the stake holders knowing each other and every aspect of their case.

Khehar said that he proposes to take the system to all the high courts and the subordinate courts. 

Justice Dipak Misra in his welcome address said that paperless court is not an idea but an environment-friendly initiative coupled with empowering the litigant. 

Referring to a former Chief Justice, who had shelved the idea of WiFi use in the top court on security grounds, Justice J. Chelameswar wondered that if WiFi used in the Pentagon did not pose a threat, how could it pose a threat to the security of the top court.

(With Inputs from IANS)

NEW DELHI: After getting an interim stay in Kulbhushan Jadhav case from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on carrying out death sentence on the former Naval officer who is jailed in Pakistan. India will now have to  wait for the final ruling of the 15-judge ICJ whether Jadhav’s rights were violated. 

India has accused Pakistan of violating the Vienna Convention which allows consular access to foreign nationals. Islamabad has repeatedly turned down New Delhi’s request for consular access to Jadhav who is jailed in Pakistan and has been convicted of charges of subversion and espionage and given death sentence by a military court last month. 

India instituted proceedings against Pakistan in ICJ, accusing Islamabad of “egregious violations of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations” in the detention and trial of Kulbhushan Jadhav. Last month, Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Gautam Bambawale had asked for consular access to Jadhav for the 16th time.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted today that senior advocate Harish Salve would be representing India before ICJ in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case.  

India on Wednesday said the decision taken to move the ICJ was calculated and carefully considered.

“This is a course of action chosen after careful consideration to save the life of an Indian citizen, a son of India, who is in illegal detention and whose life is under threat,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay told mediapersons here.

India had sought relief asking for a suspension of the sentence of death awarded to Jadhav, the ICJ said in a press statement. India had stated that the sentence of the military court was in “brazen defiance” of the Vienna Convention rights under Article 36 and elementary human rights of an accused.

“The applicant also points out that it learned about the death sentence against Jadhav from a press release. India submits that it has information that Jadhav was `kidnapped from Iran, where he was carrying on business after retiring from the Indian Navy, and was then shown to have been arrested in Baluchistan’ on 3 March 2016, and that the Indian authorities were notified of that arrest on 25 March 2016,” said the ICJ in a press statement before it stayed the death sentence.

India also sought other “reliefs” from the ICJ including an immediate suspension of the death sentence,  restraining Pakistan from giving effect to the sentence awarded by the military court. 

India also sought directions from the ICJ to Pakistan to take steps to annul the decision of the military court as may be available to it under the law in Pakistan,  and if Pakistan is unable to annul the decision, then this court to declare the decision illegal being violative of international law and treaty rights and restrain Pakistan from acting in violation of the Vienna Convention and international law by giving effect to the sentence or the conviction in any manner, and directing it to release the convicted Indian National forthwith.”

India has contended that it was not informed of Jadhav’s detention until long after his arrest and that Pakistan failed to inform the accused of his rights. It further alleged that, in violation of the Vienna Convention, the authorities of Pakistan are denying India its right of consular access to Jadhav, despite its repeated requests. 

“The Applicant also points out that it learned about the death sentence against Mr. Jadhav from a press release. India submits that it has information that Mr. Jadhav was “kidnapped from Iran, where he was carrying on business after retiring from the Indian Navy, and was then shown to have been arrested in Baluchistan” on 3 March 2016, and that the Indian authorities were notified of that arrest on 25 March 2016. It claims to have sought consular access to Mr. Jadhav on 25 March 2016 and repeatedly thereafter,” the ICJ said in a press statement. 

India told ICJ that on January 23, 2017, Pakistan requested assistance in the investigation of Mr. Jadhav’s alleged “involvement in espionage and terrorist activities in Pakistan” and, by a Note Verbale of 21 March 2017, informed India that “consular access [to Mr. Jadhav would be considered in the light of the Indian side’s response to Pakistan’s request for assistance in the investigation process”. 

According to ICJ statement, India claimed that “linking assistance to the investigation process to the granting of consular access was by itself a serious violation of the Vienna Convention”.