Islamabad, Aug 4 (PTI) Pakistani lawmakers from the opposition parties on Wednesday urged the government to give the right of appeal to all citizens convicted by the country's military courts on the lines of the rights provided to Indian death-row prisoner Kulbhushan Jadhav through a proposed law.

A legislation was passed in the National Assembly in June to provide the right of appeal to Jadhav. It was aimed at fully implementing the verdict of the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Also Read | UK Govt Expands COVID-19 Vaccination Programme for Adolescents Aged 16 and 17 Years.

Jadhav, a 51-year-old retired Indian Navy officer, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and terrorism in April 2017. India approached the ICJ against Pakistan for denial of consular access to Jadhav and challenging the death sentence.

The Hague-based ICJ ruled in July 2019 that Pakistan must undertake an "effective review and reconsideration" of the conviction and sentence of Jadhav and also to grant consular access to India without further delay.

Also Read | Muharram 2021 Date in Iran: When Is Ashura and Moon Sighting for for the First Islamic Month?.

India had asked Pakistan to address the "shortcomings" in the Review and Reconsideration Bill 2020 brought out to facilitate reviewing the case of Jadhav, saying the proposed law does not create a mechanism to reconsider it as mandated by the ICJ judgement.

A meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Law and Justice was held here on Wednesday to discuss the proposed right of review to Jadhav. The meeting was chaired by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Senator Ali Zafar.

Most of the members belonging to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) took exception to the proposed legislation, claiming that such rights were not available to Pakistani citizens.

Explaining the rationale behind the proposed legislation, law minister Faroogh Naseem said the ICJ had asked Pakistan to undertake review against the conviction of Kulbhushan by a military court in 2017.

He said if Pakistan failed to provide the relief, India will drag Pakistan to the ICJ for failing to implement its verdict. “India can also bring a resolution against Pakistan in the UN Security Council,” Naseem said.

Senator Azam Nazir Tarar of PML-N asked the minister why Pakistanis were not being given the same right.

He said if the legislation was the only way to implement the ICJ verdict, then it should be broader to give this right to Pakistanis convicted by the military courts.

Farooq Naek of PPP said the government would have to convince the lawmakers that the proposed legislation was absolutely essential for the ICJ verdict implementation.

Naek proposed that instead of bringing in a fresh legislation, the Army Act should be amended so that anyone convicted by a military court could file an appeal against it.

Senator Kamran Murtza of JUI-F said if a law was being made to "help" a foreigner, then why Pakistanis were being deprived of the same right.

The meeting remained inconclusive and the senators decided to meet again to discuss the issue.

The ICJ (Review and Re-consideration) Bill would become law if passed by the Senate without any amendment and then signed by the president.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)