ISLAMABAD/NEW DELHI: Under pressure over the adverse ruling in the International Court of Justice in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case, Pakistan’s civilian government asserted that the stay on the Indian national’s execution cannot trump domestic law.“They cannot override a country’s laws allowing the death penalty. If according to our laws, someone gets the death penalty, they can’t nullify it,” said Sartaj Aziz, foreign policy adviser to PM Nawaz Sharif. He said Jadhav’s case will be handled according to Pakistani law.Though the setback at the ICJ is largely to due to the Pakistan army’s decision to hold and try Jadhav in a secret military court and his death sentence was confirmed by Pak army chief Gen Qamar Bajwa , it is the Sharif government that is feeling the heat. This can be gauged by Aziz having to virtually backtrack on his earlier statement that there was no conclusive evidence against Jadhav for being a spy.With the Jadhav case spurring political one-upsmanship and inflaming anti-India sentiments, the Sharif government has been left with no choice but to claim that it will not be bound by the ICJ ruling that emphatically upheld India’s position that the Indian national’s rights under the Vienna convention have been violated and he has been subject to a sham trial.Pakistan claimed on Saturday that its position in the case against Jadhav is strong and would be clear when the actual hearing begins. But Indian officials, responding to reports that Pakistan wants to “review” the order, dismissed it saying there was no such procedure.“Wrong to say Pakistan lost at ICJ, court stayed execution, didn't order consular access to Jadhav," Aziz told reporters in Islamabad. Defending Pakistan’s position in the wake of ICJ’s order halting Pakistan from executing Jadhav until a final decision, he said, “Jadhav had confessed to carrying out espionage and terrorist activities inside Pakistan. Not only was Jadhav an Indian citizen, he was in fact an officer in the Indian Navy using a fake passport. He was sentenced according to the country’s law.”Pakistan’s position, he said, would improve on “the matter of jurisdiction and merit”. He added the ICJ had not decided on consular access either and has only intimated that the matter will come under discussion.India refused to engage in an official riposte to Aziz’s statements. But sources here clarified that India’s prayer to the ICJ had been on the limited points that the court has jurisdiction over the case, and provisional measures be passed to halt any move by Pakistan to execute Jadhav. On both counts, the court accepted India’s argument. Pakistan home minister Chaudhary Nisar Ali Khan, too, said the country will deal with the issue of Jadhav according to the law of the land.“Jadhav has been sentenced to death in accordance with the constitution of Pakistan because he was arrested in the country,” Nisar said. He also claimed that if Jadhav was not arrested on time, he would have carried out more terrorist activities in Pakistan, killing and maiming many innocent people.The political turmoil and heartburn in Pakistan after Thursday’s verdict will have implications for civil-military relations in Pakistan.The Pakistan legal team, led by Khawar Qureshi, has come under criticism, not only for the quality of his arguments, but that he apparently charged a large sum of money. It has also been said that he was ill-prepared, conceding 40 minutes of argument time. Pakistan has said it would reconstitute the legal team and arm it with fresh evidence.India has confined its case to seeking access to Jadhav. When the ICJ begins hearing the case, India believes its case would find merit. But while judgments of the ICJ are legally binding on nations, there is enough precedent to show that Pakistan could go ahead with executing Jadhav, by flouting the verdict. It has been done by the US in a similar case, and could be repeated though Pakistan’s case suffers as Jadhav was allegedly tried by a secret court.If the ICJ upholds the Indian point of view, Pakistan would find itself facing a very difficult choice — the humiliation of allowing access to Jadhav or international opprobrium if he is hanged.Given that Pakistan places great store by the UN, asking it to weigh in on India-Pakistan disputes, the choice is not easy. All the more so as public opinion has been assured that Pakistan had been “cheated” by the UN resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir not being implemented.Responding to a question as to why no ad hoc judge was sent on the day of ICJ’s hearing, Aziz said Pakistan had only five days to prepare for the appearance. “We will go with a strong team and full preparation in the next hearing,” Aziz said, adding that even if Pakistan had chosen an ad hoc judge, the ICJ’s verdict would not have changed.Pakistan’s attorney general Ashtar Ausaf Ali will now plead Pakistan’s case at ICJ.