New Delhi: India said on Monday it could approach the International Court of Justice at The Hague against the brutal torture of Kargil martyr Capt. Saurabh Kalia by Pakistan due to the “exceptional circumstances” of the case.
Reversing its earlier stand, the government will urge the Supreme Court to pronounce on the legality of its stand that India cannot invoke the compulsory jurisdiction of the ICJ in relation to such disputes with Pakistan as they are both Commonwealth countries. Taking into account the “exceptional circumstances”, it will ask if it could still move the ICJ on this matter.
External affairs ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup said in the case filed by Capt. Kalia’s family in the SC, the Centre had held the conventional position under Commonwealth provisions. “This position has now been reviewed. The government will be requesting the SC to pronounce on the legality of the stand, taking into account the circumstances,” he said.
