Supreme Court wants ICJ to take Pak to release Indian Prisoners of War

Khushi Gupta

Published on: April 14, 2022 at IST

Supreme Court sought a response from Center on Public Interest Litigation filed by the wife of a war prisoner (PoW), Major Kanwaljit Singh, Pakistan, seeking a way to effectively enforce the right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution.

Bench featuring Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Surya Kant noted that the application raises an important issue, as it has issued a notice to the central government. The bench said: “It is an important matter…to be listed after 3 weeks. Liberty to serve through standing counsel”.

The decision, filed by Advocate Namit Saxena, sought the guidance of all Respondents, the plea arraigned the Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Defence, and the Chief of Army Staff as Respondents, to go to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against Pakistan with appropriate remedies, which oblige the release of all Indian Prisoners of War held under torture in Pakistan, in violation of the Geneva Convention for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.

The plea said the Union of India and specifically the Indian Army, have not initiated any concrete steps for the establishment of a mechanism for effective enforcement of provisions of the Geneva Convention.

“The utmost suffering and trauma is evident from the overwhelming admitted reality that 54 PoWs, narrated in the Gujarat High Court Judgement dated December 23, 2011, who are worthy soldiers of this great nation, are living a miserable life for almost 50 years now”, said the plea.

“That husband of the petitioner is one amongst many known Indian PoWs, more particularly the 54 known from the 1971 war, about whom domestic and third-party evidence had surfaced from time to time, with regards their illegal and torturous detention in the Pakistani jails, in utter disregard for fundamental human rights, local and international laws, more specifically the Geneva Convention for Treatment of Prisoners of War”, added the plea.

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