Dhaka, Dec 7 (bdnews24.com) – Hearing on the petition challenging legality of the court martial of Col Abu Taher, one of the sector commanders during the Liberation War, has been adjourned until Dec 13.
A High Court bench on Tuesday passed the order following an extension prayer moved by the government.
Additional attorney general M K Rahman made the prayer to the court seeking seven days for taking preparation for the hearing.
On Aug 23, the High Court asked the government to produce within three weeks the records of the court martial that saw Col Taher condemned to death in 1976.
The court also directed the government to explain why Martial Law Regulation No.16 of 1976, under which Taher was tried for sedition and executed 34 years back, should not be declared illegal and unconstitutional.
Taher's wife Lutfa Taher, his brother Anwar Hossain, general secretary of Dhaka University Teachers' Association, Fatema Yusuf, wife of Yusuf Ali Khan who was sentenced to life term in the same trial, jointly filed the petition on August 23.
Some 17 civilians and military personnel including Col Abu Taher were tried and sentenced to death on different dates in 1976 and 1977.
Col Taher was sentenced to death on July 17, 1976 in the secret martial law trial. Later Taher, the freedom fighter who led the Liberation War in sector 11, was executed at 4:30am on July 21 the same year at the Dhaka Central Jail.
bdnews24.com/corr/mi/skb/pks/1716h
