International Court of Justice to hear Kulbhushan Jadhav's case on May 15

NEW DELHI: The next hearing in the case of former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav at the International Court of Justice that has stayed his execution in Pakistan, will take place on May 15, the judicial body said in a press release on Wednesday.

"The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, will hold public hearings on Monday 15 May 2017... in the proceedings insituted by the Republic of India on 8 May 2017 against the Islmaic Republic of Pakistan," the statement said.

The ICJ further stated the hearing will be devoted to the request for provisional relief submitted by India in the matter of Kulbhushan Jadhav.

Earlier, senior lawyer

Harish Salve

, who is representing India at the Hague said it had appealed to the ICJ for granting access to Jadhav under the provisions of the Vienna Convention.

"We moved (the ICJ) for provisional relief. The counsel of the country to which the man belongs has the right of access to that person. The basic idea is that if you are caught in a place where you are a stranger, people from your country are there to help you," Salve told Times Now.

The Hague-based ICJ had on Tuesday issued a stay order on the execution of Kulbhushan Jadhav, who had been sentenced to hang by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage.

India, in its appeal before the ICJ, has accused Pakistan of "egregious" (shocking) violation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.

The plea said that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he was involved in business activities after retiring from the Indian Navy, but Pakistan claimed he was arrested from Balochistan on March 3, 2016.

Pakistan army on Wednesday said it will respond at an "appropriate level" to any query by the International Court of Justice (ICJ).