India on Monday said that the trial of its national Kulbhushan Jadhav, 48, by a Pakistani military court did not adhere to even the minimum standards of due process and requested the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to declare it “unlawful”.

The UN court began a four-day public hearing in the case of the former Indian naval officer, Jadhav, who was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage.

Pakistan had claimed that it arrested Jadhav from the Balochistan province in March 2016 after he entered the country from Iran. India, on its part, argued that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran, where he had business interests after retiring from the Indian Navy. Jadhav’s sentencing had evoked sharp reaction in India.

The ICJ hearing comes amid heightened tensions between India and Pakistan following a suicide attack that killed at least 40 Central Reserve Police Force personnel in Kashmir’s Pulwama. Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed had claimed responsibility for the terror strike.