Amit Talukder
bdnews24.com Legal Affairs Correspondent
Dhaka, Feb 21 (bdnews24.com) – The appointment of one more judge to the Appellate Division is enough to revive the Bangabandhu murder case that has been on hold for six years.
The BNP-Jamaat coalition government did not take steps to hear the case.
To hear the appeal, the Appellate Division has now two judges. If authorities appoint a senior judge to the Appellate Division even if it is for the time being, the hearing could restart, lawyers said.
The case hit the deadlock after five of the seven judges on the Appellate Division felt too embarrassed to hear or handed down their judgements on the case. According to rules, three judges must agree to hear the case.
It appears that chief justice Syed JR Mudassir Husain will retire on Feb 28 without setting the case back on track. Mudassir will complete his 67-year career in line with service rules.
Justice Mohammad Hasan Amin is the most senior judge on the High Court Division, followed closely by Justice AK Badrul Haque.
If one of them is elevated to the Appellate Division after Mudassir retires, the deadlock will go, raising hopes for a restart of the hearing in March.
On March 19, 2002, an appeal was placed before the Appellate Division for hearing, but two judges of the division felt "embarrassed" by the proceedings.
Chief Justice Mudassir Husain, Justice MM Ruhul Amin and Justice Amirul Kabir Chowdhury had earlier declined to hear the appeal.
And Justice Mohammad Ruhul Amin and Justice Fazlul Karim handed down judgements on the case when they were on the HC division. They can no longer hear the appeal.
Only Justice Tafazzal Islam and Justice Joynul Abedin can hear the appeal.
If Justice Mohammad Abdul Matin is appointed to the Appellate Division on the retirement of the chief justice, the hearing is not possible. Matin felt too embarrassed to hear it.
Former attorney general AF Hassan Arif told bdnews24.com that the shortage of judges in hearing the case threw up the deadlock.
"If a judge eligible to hear the appeal is appointed to the Appellate Division, the appeal could be heard," he said.
Attorney general Fida M Kamal declined to comment when asked if the interim government would do anything to hear the appeal.
The case's former state counsel Anisul Haque told bdnews24.com that the previous government was not willing to end the legal tangles.
He alleged the attorney general's office did not make a step. "Rather the state counsels of the case were removed on Dec 19, 2002."
The government did not move to arrest eight fugitives.
Anisul Haque hoped the interim government would move to end the "injustice".
"People want an end to the deadlock," he said.
Khan Saifur Rahman, the counsel for retired Col Syed Faruk Rahman who was sentenced to death in the case, told bdnews24.com that his client was arrested on August 13, 1996.
"Faruk has since been detained. When a convict passes 10 years in jail, his death sentence by hanging?"
Khan Saifur demanded a quick settlement of the case. He said his client was an army officer. "I think the Appellate Division will free my client since his trial was held in a civil court instead of a martial court."
Mahbubur Rahman, the counsel for another convict, retired Major Bazlul Huda, told bdnews24.com that there was a way to hear the leave to appeal.
He favoured immediate steps to appoint a judge to the Appellate Division on an ad hoc basis.
Independence leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was assassinated along with most of his family on August 15, 1975. As many as 21 years after the brutal killing, a case was filed on October 2, 1996.
Sessions judge Golam Rasul sentenced 15 people to death on November 8, 1998.
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