Wednesday 19 April 2017

To
1. His Excellency the President of Pakistan
2. His Excellency the Prime Minister of Pakistan
Islamabad
( to be forwarded by someone )
Your Excellencies,
I am writing to you to seek clemency for Kulbhushan Jadhav, an Indian national, who has been sentenced to death by a Pakistan Military Tribunal.
I do not know the facts of the case, so I will not comment on the merits.
I may, however, be permitted the liberty of referring to Portia's famous speech in Shakespeare's ' Merchant of Venice ' where she pleaded that justice should be tempered with mercy.
I may also quote a couplet of the celebrated Urdu poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz ( which I also quoted in my judgment in the Indian Supreme Court in Gopal Das vs. Union of India in which I pleaded for mercy to Gopal Das to the then Pakistan President & P. M. ) :
" Qafas udaas hai yaaron, saba se kuch to kaho
Kaheen to beher-e-khuda aaj zikr-e-yaar chale "
Yours respectfully
Justice Markandey Katju
former Judge, Supreme Court of India
Fremont, California, USA
18.4.2017

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