In the latest development in Kulbhushan Jadhav's case, Pakistan has claimed that the 49-year-old retired Indian Navy officer, who was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on "espionage and terrorism" charges in 2017, refused to file a review petition against his conviction.

In the latest development in Kulbhushan Jadhav's case, Pakistan has claimed that the 49-year-old retired Indian Navy officer, who was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on "espionage and terrorism" charges in 2017, refused to file a review petition against his conviction.

Addressing a press conference, Pakistan's additional attorney general Ahmed Irfan claimed that refused to file a petition and opted for his pending mercy plea. He also said that the Government of Pakistan has written to the Indian High Commission to file the review petition before the deadline.

Irfan further told the media that Pakistan allows review petitions within a certain period of time under the International Court of Justice Review and Reconsideration Ordinance, 2020 which was enacted in May this year.

"On June 17, we invited Jadhav to file a petition for the reconsideration of his conviction and offered him legal representation but he refused to file the petition and instead preferred to follow up on his pending mercy petition," the Pakistani additional attorney general said.

Pakistan Offers Second Consular Access To Jadhav

He also said that Pakistan has offered India another consular access to Jadhav, facing the death sentence and will allow his father and wife to meet him. "In the first round, he met his mother and wife and now we have offered to let him meet his father and wife," he told reporters.

India had moved to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against Pakistan after the latter denied a consular access to Jadhav and seeking a stay on his death sentence. The ICJ ruled in India's favour and asked Pakistan to grant New Delhi consular access to Jadhav and ordered an "effective review and reconsideration" of the conviction and sentence.

According to Pakistan, Jadhav was arrested from Baluchistan province on March 3, 2016 by its security forces. It alleges that he entered the country from Iran and involved in espionage activities. India, however, refuted Pakistani claims and said that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he was involved in business after retirement from Navy.