Face of Nation : Minutes before she suffered a massive cardiac arrest, former foreign affairs minister Sushma Swaraj asked Senior Advocate Harish Salve to come and collect his fee of Re 1 for representing India at the International Court of Justice in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case.
Narrating the sequence of events, Salve told that he considered Swaraj as an elder sister and was “simply stunned” to hear about her demise. “At 8:45 pm I had a talk with her. She said ‘you have to come&take your fees of Re.1 for Jadhav case’. Just 10 min post that, she had a cardiac arrest,” he added.
Swaraj who was rushed to AIIMS after the cardiac arrest passed away on Tuesday night. She will be cremated with full state honours today at Lodhi crematorium in New Delhi.
In June this year, in a major diplomatic victory for India, ICJ granted consular access to Jadhav and ruled that Pakistan must review the death sentence for the Indian national. In a 15-1 verdict, a bench led by President of the Court Judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf said Pakistan had violated India’s rights to consular visits after Jadhav’s arrest. Swaraj who had taken a keen interest in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case had thanked Salve for “successfully and effectively” presenting India’s case before ICJ.
