World court to decide on jurisdiction first

THE HAGUE, APRIL 3. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) today began hearing a dispute raised by Pakistan on the shooting down of its naval aircraft, `Atlantique', last August in Gujarat saying it would first have to decide whether it had the jurisdiction to go into the case as contended by New Delhi.

The president of the 15-judge Court, Mr. Gilbert Guillaume of France, said the Court would first decide the question after the Indian delegation led by Attorney General, Mr. Soli J. Sorabjee, raised preliminary objections to its jurisdiction.

Pakistan has sought $ 60 million in damages from India for the incident which claimed lives of all the 16 naval personnel onboard the surveillance aircraft.

Pakistan's Attorney General, Mr. Aziz Munshi, sought a speedy resolution saying the application had to be concluded quickly so that it did not remain an irritant in Indo-Pakistan relations.

Describing as ``unwarranted and unjustified'' India's opposition to the ICJ trying the case, Mr. Munshi told the Court that New Delhi should welcome such an opportunity to ``establish its innocence'' and to ascertain the truth.

``Pakistan is concerned that India is being resistant to the case being heard,'' Mr. Munshi said adding ``it is not an exercise in propaganda.''

Mr. Munshi and his team of lawyers took nearly three hours arguing their case. India will begin its arguments tomorrow. The Court is expected to pronounce its judgment in about three to four months after the conclusion of arguments on Thursday.

Earlier, the former Supreme Court judge, Mr. B.P. Jeevan Reddy and the former Attorney General, Syed Sharifuddin Pirzada, were co-opted into the bench as ad-hoc judges.

As per Court rules, when it does not include a judge possessing the nationality of the state party to a case, the state may appoint a person to sit as a judge ad-hoc for the purpose of the case.

- PTI

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