NEW DELHI: More than a decade and four petitions later, the Supreme Court on Wednesday entertained a fresh petition by the wife of Major Kanwaljit Singh, one of the 54 prisoners of war detained in Pakistan since the 1971 war, seeking a direction to the Union government to seek their release through enforcement of Geneva Convention.
Petitioner Jasbir Kaur through advocate Namit Saxena said at least 54 PoWs are evidenced and heard to be still held under the torturous detention of Government of Pakistan since the 1971 War and sought intervention of the SC for a direction to the Centre to energise both international and domestic mechanisms for expediting the processes under Geneva Convention for their early release.
A bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and Surya Kant sought responses from the entre and
Army on the petition, which said, "Major Kanwaljit Singh who has been evidenced and heard to be under illegal detention of Pakistan government, The PIL is necessitated by the circumstances wherein admittedly at least 54 POW are evidenced and heard to be still held under the torturous detention of Government of Pakistan since the 1971 War."
The petitioner said the Union government, and specifically the Indian Army under them, have not initiated any concrete steps for establishment of a mechanism for effective enforcement of provisions of the Geneva Convention despite the expiration of more than 70 years, since it came into force. She said that India had released more than 90,000 Pakistani army personnel, who were held as PoWs and treated in a dignified manner. But, India has not been able to secure the release of 54 PoWs from Pakistan.
The first such exercise was done by the Gujarat HC on a PIL filed by Brigadier (rtd) C Savant and in 2011 had directed the Union government to move the International court of justice for release of army personnel held as prisoners of war in Pakistan.
The UPA government appealed against this order and the SC in 2012 stayed the Gujarat HC order directing India to move the international forum. Thereafter two more petitions, one by Jagjit Singh Arora and another by Sarwa Mitter on the same issue were tagged.
The last of the petitions in 2012 was filed by N K Kalia, father of Capt Saurabh Kalia who was ambushed by a Pakistan army patrol in kargil in 1999 and whose badly mutilated body was later handed over to India. Capt Kalia's father had sought a direction to the government to take recourse to Geneva Convention for punishing the Pakistani perpetrators of war crime. All these matters were last heard in 2016, nearly six years ago, and have not been listed for hearing since then.