India will do whatever it takes to see Kulbhushan Jadhav gets justice : Rajnath Singh
Singh's statement came as members of the Lok Sabha, cutting across political lines, expressed their concern and anger over the way Jadhav has been branded a "spy" and awarded death penalty by Pakistan.
"India strongly condemns the death sentence. Basic norms of law and justice were violated. I want to tell the House that the Government will do whatever it takes to make sure Kulbhushan Jadhav gets justice," Singh said.
"The way he has been awarded death penalty has triggered anger, not only in Parliament, but also across the country," he said.
"All the norms of law and justice were disregarded by Pakistan," Singh said in an apparent reference to the Geneva convention rules and added that Jadhav wasn't even given consular access despite India asking Pakistan for it as many as 13 times.
The Home Minister told the House that Jadhav had a small business in Chabahar, Iran. Pakistani security agencies kidnapped him and presented him to the country as an Indian spy. As proof, they said Jadhav has an Indian passport. "How can he be a spy and carry an Indian passport, I don't understand" Singh said.
Earlier, the Congress demanded Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention to save Jadhav, who was arrested in March last year by Pakistan and accused by the country of spying.
He was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on Monday.
Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge alleged that Pakistan has sentenced Jadhav "on lies and false allegations of spying."
"If Pakistan hangs Kulbhushan Jadhav, then it is murder. The Government will be seen as weak if it cannot free him," Kharge said
Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen lawmaker Asaduddin Owaisi said, "The Government has influence, please use it. Will the government make every effort to save him? It is our joint responsibility to save him."
Biju Janata Dal's Jay Panda said, "We are all united on this issue. No one is opposition or government. We are all Indians on this...India must take this up at UN."
According to reports, Pakistani High Commissioner Abdul Basit was summoned to protest at the conviction and sentence.
India also said that Pakistan had ignored its multiple requests to let the Indian consulate deiplomats to meet Jadhav.
India has also reportedly decided against the release of 12 Pakistani prisoners who were cleared to return home on Wednesday.
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