High Court dismisses writ challenging ICT Act validity, July crimes trials

The High Court today (28 July) dismissed a writ petition challenging the validity of the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act, 1973 and the ongoing trials for crimes against humanity committed during the July uprising.

A High Court bench comprising Justice Khizir Ahmed Choudhury and Justice Md Ziaul Hoque passed the order.

Supreme Court senior lawyer Muhammad Mohsin Rashid filed the writ.

The petition termed the 1973 law "obsolete", "inoperative" and a "tool for suppressing political opponents", and sought a directive for the government to repeal it.

The secretaries of the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs were made respondents.

According to the petition, the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act was enacted in 1973 to prosecute crimes committed by the Pakistani occupation forces and their collaborators during the 1971 Liberation War.

However, the petition claimed that following the Shimla Agreement and the Tripartite Delhi Agreement, all prisoners of war were repatriated unconditionally, effectively ending the scope for prosecutions under the Act.

The petitioner further argued that the law, which had become ineffective, was revived from 2009 for political purposes and used to eliminate opposition leaders through what it described as "judicial killings".

The writ also contended that the Act's application violates Articles 31 and 35 of the Constitution, which relate to the protection of law and safeguards regarding trial and punishment.

It further argued that under Article 94(3) of the Constitution, judges of the High Court Division may sit only in the High Court Division, and that appointing High Court judges to the International Crimes Tribunal is unconstitutional and undermines judicial independence and the rule of law.