Pakistan’s lawyer in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case on Sunday said India should not claim it had won before the International Court of Justice, as its order had merely been a procedural one, PTI reported. Khawar Qureshi told Geo TV that the order issued by the ICJ only enabled a full hearing of the case. “It certainly is not a victory for India by any means.”

Qureshi added that the court was trying to ascertain if Jadhav, whom Pakistan believes is an Indian spy, had been denied consular access, “which he had”. “It was very clear that the court didn’t want to hear about the merits or the jurisdiction.”

The lawyer also claimed Indian officials and the country’s press were slandering him while discussing the case. “It is very disappointing that India should stoop to this level. I understand that someone said I had charged 720,000 in legal fees pounds. Where did this figure come from? This is nonsense.”

On Saturday, Pakistan had said it would put together a new team of lawyers to further argue the Kulbhushan Jadhav case at the International Court of Justice. “Pakistan’s security is so important and we have to maintain our fundamental sovereign right,” the country’s Foreign Affairs Adviser Sartaj Aziz had said.

Jadhav was convicted of espionage and sentenced to death by Pakistan, following which India took the case to the United Nations court. The court had stayed Jadhav’s execution until the hearing was completed, but had ordered Pakistan to give India consular access to the prisoner, pointing out that they had not done that so far.

However, Aziz said that no decision has been made regarding giving India consular access to Jadhav. The ICJ’s decisions are considered legally binding on both India and Pakistan.

The ICJ’s decision to hold Jadhav’s execution came as a relief to the Indian government, which is now readying for the next set of hearings in the case. The Centre has not commented on whether it is keeping the same legal team as before or changing it.