Justices AHM Shamsuddin Choudhury and Sheikh Md Zakir Hossain had given the verdict on Mar 22, 2011. The full verdict was published after the judges signed it.
In the summary verdict, the court had said Taher’s execution was a ‘cold-blooded murder’ given the nature of the trial conducted as per Ziaur Rahman's plan.
It had also ordered the government to probe whether Ziaur Rahman had any connection with the murder of independence architect Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Terming the entire trial a drama, the High Court had declared the formation of the fake tribunal, the process of the trial and the punishments illegal and invalid.
Col Taher was one of the Sector Commanders during the Liberation War.
The court had ordered Taher be ‘considered a martyr’ and file a murder case against the judge of the military tribunal, who had ordered his hanging.
Bangladesh saw a spell of military uprising and counter-uprising after the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family members on Aug 15, 1975.
On Nov 7, 1975, Taher orchestrated a socialist uprising amongst the soldiers and freed the then chief of army staff Ziaur Rahman from house-arrest. He also fuelled Zia's consolidation of power as deputy chief martial law administrator.
However, Taher was arrested only 17 days after the takeover. A total of 33 people, including him, were tried in a secret court martial.
Of them 16 were released, while 17 were handed down various sentences. The tribunal had sentenced to death two sector commanders, Taher and Maj MA Jalil, and Taher’s brother Abu Yusuf.
Verdicts of Jalil and Yusuf were later reduced to life sentences for their ‘special contribution’ during the Liberation War.
Four days after the military court order, Taher was hanged on July 21, 1976.
Taher's wife, Lutfa, his brother Anwar Hossain, currently the Vice Chancellor of Jahangirnagar University, and Flight Sergeant Abu Yusuf Khan’s wife jointly filed a petition challenging the legality of the court martial on Aug 23, 2010.
Later, three more petitions were filed over the matter and the court delivered a verdict on the four pleas over the legality of the trial.
The court asked authorities to consider giving compensations to those who had been punished in the trial.
Kamal Hossain, M Ameer-ul-Islam, M Zahir, Yusuf Hossain Humayun, Akhter Imam, A F M Mejbahuddin, Abdul Matin Khasru, Z I Khan Panna and M I Farooque were heard during hearings on the writ petitions as amici curiae.
Earlier, Lawrence Lifschultz, a former South Asia correspondent for the Far Eastern Economic Review, who had been in Dhaka during Taher's trial in 1976, S M Shawkat Ali, the then Deputy Commissioner of Dhaka, and current DC Mohammad Mohibul Haque recorded their statements in the court.
Besides, Maj Gen (retd) Nurul Islam Shishu sent his written statement from the US.
