Indian Judge Dalveer Bhandari was among the 13 judges at the International Court of Justice who on Wednesday voted against the Russian invasion and ordered Moscow to immediately halt the military operations against Ukraine.
“The Russian Federation, pending the final decision in the case, must immediately suspend the military operations it commenced in the territory of Ukraine on February 24, 2022,” the order said.
Even though the ruling is binding, the ICJ has no mechanism to enforce its decision.
Justice Bhandari voted as a judge in his personal capacity and does not reflect India’s official position, as per media reports.
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The ICJ is one of the six principal organs of the UN and has the duty to settle disputes as per international law.
The ICJ has 15 judges. Currently, the seats are occupied by judges from Somalia, China, Slovakia, France, Morocco, Brazil, the US, Uganda, India, Jamaica, Australia, Russia, Lebanon, Japan, Germany and Belgium.
Of these 15 judges, all but 2 voted in favour of the said order. The two who voted against the direction were the Russian and Chinese judges.
Justice Dalveer Bhandari was nominated by the Indian government as its official candidate in January 2012. In April 2012, Justice Bhandari secured 122 votes in the UN General Assembly and was elected to the ICJ.
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He was reelected for the second term in 2017. His term will last till 2027.
Following the ruling, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hailed the order and asked Russia to comply with the direction.
“Ukraine gained a complete victory in its case against Russia at the International Court of Justice. The ICJ ordered an immediate stop to the invasion. The order is binding under international law. Russia must comply immediately. Ignoring the order will isolate Russia even further,” President Zelensky wrote on Twitter.
India has been abstaining on resolutions critical of the Russian invasion at the UN. Till now, India has abstained on 3 UN Security Council resolutions, once in the UN General Assembly and twice at the UN Human Rights Council.
