Stating that the killing of Sarabjit Singh in Pakistan jail was in clear breach of 'Taskent Declaration', a PIL filed in Gujarat High Court has sought a direction to the Centre to approach the International Court of Justice to book those responsible for his death.
A division bench of Chief Justice Bhaskar Bhattacharya and Justice J B Pardiwala has asked the petitioner Girish Das, a practising lawyer in the High Court, to furnish legal provisions on the basis of which Indian government could approach the international forum.
The Bench is likely to hear the PIL next Thursday.
Indian death row prisoner Sarabjit Singh died of cardiac arrest in a Lahore hospital on May 2 after being comatose for nearly a week following a brutal assault by inmates of a jail.
Das claimed in his petition that the way Sarabjit was killed and his body sent back without some of his vital organs amounted to gross violation of his fundamental rights.
The killing was in clear breach of 'Taskent Declaration' registered with the United Nations Secretariat by India on March 22, 1966, he pointed out.
"This was a clear breach of international treaties signed by the two neighbouring countries and registered with the United Nations and duty has been cast upon Union of India to protect Sarabjit's fundamental as well as human rights inside or outside the country,".
"The government should approach International Court of Justice, the judicial organ of the United Nations, to bring perpetrators to book," Das said in his petition.
"When the agreed terms have been breached, why the government is not raising this issue before United Nations is a disquieting question," the petition said.
