| Submit your comments on this article |
| Bangladesh |
| Bangabandhu murder case may resume soon |
| 2009-03-06 |
| Initiatives are going to be taken soon for disposal of the long-pending Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman assassination case following appointment of two new judges to the Appellate Division. Legal experts say the appointments have paved the way for forming the required three-member bench of the apex court to hear appeals of five condemned prisoners against their conviction handed down by the High Court. President Zillur Rahman on Wednesday appointed the most senior judges of the HC Justice Shah Abu Nayeem Mominur Rahman and Justice Md Abdul Aziz as judges to the Appellate Division. A gazette notification on the appointments was published yesterday. The judges will take oath of their new office to Chief Justice MM Ruhul Amin Sunday morning, sources say. The chief state counsel for this case, advocate Anisul Huq yesterday told The Daily Star he will convey the present status of Bangabandhu murder case to the Supreme Court (SC) through submitting a "concise statement" next week, as there is no bar to constituting a bench for hearing this case now. Meanwhile, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam said yesterday his office is fully prepared for hearing of the case. "A possibility has been created for constituting a bench of the Appellate Division for hearing the case. The chief justice will now constitute the bench and then we will move to the court to proceed with it," he said. Of the five sitting judges of the Appellate Division, Chief Justice MM Ruhul Amin and Justice MA Matin had earlier felt embarrassed to hear the case in the HC. Justice Mohammad Fazlul Karim had heard the case and delivered judgment at the HC, Anisul Huq added. The appeals against death sentence handed down by the HC have remained pending in the SC for about 16 months due to shortage of judges. Lt Col (sacked) Syed Farooq-ur Rahman, Lt Col (retd) Sultan Shahriar Rashid Khan, Lt Col (retd) Muhiuddin Ahmed, Major (retd) AKM Mahiuddin Ahmed (Lancer) and Major (retd) Bazlul Huda filed the appeals with the apex court in the last week of October 2007 as per the court order. |
| Posted by:Fred |