DHAKA: The High Court Sunday turned down a writ petition seeking court’s order for bringing back the 195 prisoners of war from Pakistan to put them in the dock for war-crime trial.

An HC bench comprising Justice Mamnun Rahman and Justice Syeda Afsar Jahan came up with the order upon a writ petition filed by Supreme Court lawyer Parvez Ahmed earlier in the day.

In his petition Ahmed said the tripartite Delhi Treaty was signed on April 9, 1974 among Bangladesh, India and Pakistan for the extradition of the Pakistanis who had been detained after the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War.

Dr Kamal Hossain had signed the treaty on behalf of Bangladesh while Sardar Saran Singh for India and Aziz Ahmed for Pakistan.

Under the accord, the 195 war criminals had been deported to Pakistan.

“But, the first amendment of the constitution was made and the International Crimes Tribunal Act formulated for holding trial of the war criminals,” it was stated in the petition, which came at a time when the present government has arranged the belated trial of local war criminals.

But, they had been later set free “violating the constitution”, the petitioner contended.

The petitioner also sought the court’s directive for publishing a list of those killed during the War of Liberation in 1971 and declaring those Bangladeshi civil servants who derived benefit from the Pakistan government during the war as lackeys of the occupation force.

BDST: 1812 HRS, AUG 22, 2010.