Dalveer wins his spurs at International Court

India has scored a major diplomatic victory with its nominee, Justice Dalveer Bhandari, re-elected to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) after a protracted battle that eventually prompted the United Kingdom to bow out of the contest just ahead of a crucial 12th round of voting at the UN headquarters in New York on Monday.

Commending Bhandari’s re-election, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called it a “proud moment” for India. “The extraordinary support from the UN membership is reflective of the respect for strong constitutional integrity of the Indian polity and the independence of the judiciary in India,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

With his re-election, Bhandari, the 71-year-old former Supreme Court judge and member of the ICJ since April 2012, will fill the fifth vacancy in the world court based in The Hague for the 2018-2027 term. He will start his 9-year term from February 2018.

For Britain, it was a humiliating diplomatic blow as it felt compelled to announce the withdrawal of its nominee Christopher Greenwood, who had already served one nine-year term, given the fact that it is the first time since 1946 that there would be no British judge on the ICJ Bench.

After the previous 11 rounds of voting produced a stalemate, with the 193-member General Assembly solidly rallying behind Bhandari and the 15-member Security Council backing Greenwood, all eyes were on Monday’s voting to see if the pattern would be broken and a clear outcome thrown up.

Then, in a dramatic turn of events, UK’s Permanent Representative to the UN Matthew Rycroft wrote to the presidents of the General Assembly and the Security Council shortly before Monday’s 3 pm voting, informing them that their

nominee Greenwood has decided to withdraw from the race. The two presidents read out the letter in their respective chambers.

In the election that was gone through thereafter, Bhandari received 183 out of the total 193 votes in the General Assembly and secured all the 15 votes in the Security Council. In the previous 11 rounds, Bhandari secured nearly two-thirds of the General Assembly votes every time, while in the Security Council, Greenwood consistently received nine votes as against Bhandari’s five. To win the election, one needed to secure a majority in both the vital UN organs.

“We’re naturally disappointed,” Rycroft said later, but congratulated Justice Bhandari and said the UK would continue to cooperate closely with India at the UN and globally.

 “If the UK could not win in this run-off, then we are pleased that it is a close friend like India that has done so instead,” he remarked.

“A vote that brings cheer to a billion India’s nominee Judge Bhandari re-elected to ICJ,” India’s ambassador/permanent representative Syed Akbaruddin broke the news on Twitter as soon as the result were announced. This was followed by a congratulatory message by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj who tweeted, “Congratulations to Justice Dalveer Bhandari on his re-election as a Judge of the ICJ. Huge efforts by Team MEA. Syed Akbaruddin, our Permanent Representative in the UN deserves a special mention.”

Soon after, Prime Minister Modi tweeted, “Congratulations to EAM @SushmaSwaraj and her entire team at MEA & diplomatic missions for their untiring efforts that have led to India’s re-election to ICJ. Our deep gratitude to all the members of UNGA as well as UNSC for their support and trust in India.”

Ministry of External Affairs said the extraordinary support it got from the UN members is reflective of the respect for strong constitutional integrity of the Indian polity and the independence of the judiciary in India.

“We thank all those Governments who supported India in this election,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in its statement. Commenting on the British action, it said, “The UK decided to withdraw its candidate after a closely fought electoral process. We appreciate the UK decision.”

The MEA explained that the Indian National Group to the Permanent Court of Arbitration had re-nominated Judge Bhandari as India’s national candidate in June 2017. “The Government of India has been supporting the campaign of Judge Bhandari through diplomatic efforts at different for a,” it added.

Akbaruddin, speaking at a reception in honour of Bhandari and attended by representatives of over 160 countries on Thursday, had sought to highlight the point that “only the candidate who enjoys overwhelming support of the General Assembly membership can be the only legitimate candidate to go through”.