MUHAMMAD YEASIN: Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain is likely to fix a bench very soon for quick disposal of the sensational 21st Grenade Attack cases as the paper books and other related documents of the death references and appeals of the cases have been prepared in the meantime.
“We have received the paper book of the August 21 grenade attack case from the Bangladesh Government Press paving the way for the High Court to start hearing on the death references and appeals of the cases,” Supreme Court Spokesman Md Saifur Rahman told this correspondent yesterday.
Currently we are scrutinising the paper book and other related documents. After examining all documents, we will submit the death references to the chief justice very soon for his order, he said.
After that the chief justice will send the matter to a High Court bench for disposal of the cases. The hearing on the death references will start soon once the chief justice announces a bench in this regard, he noted.
A paper book contains all details of a case, trial proceedings, statements, evidence, orders, verdict and other relevant documents. It is crucial for the High Court to hear and dispose of a death reference or an appeal.
According to the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), if a lower court orders death penalty, the verdict is examined by HC for confirmation of the death sentence.
Once a lower court delivers a verdict, the case documents and judgment should reach the High Court from the lower court as a death reference within seven days.
The attack on August 21 in 2004 killed 24 people, including the then president of Bangladesh Mohila Awami League and late President Zillur Rahman’s wife Ivy Rahman, and injured over 500 others.
The grenade attack, masterminded by some BNP leaders, is regarded one of the most shocking political crimes in the country’s history.
On October 10, 2018, a Dhaka court had sentenced 19 persons, including former state minister and BNP leader Lutfozzaman Babar, to death and 19 others, including BNP’s acting chairman Tarique Rahman, to life imprisonment in connection with two cases filed in connection with the grenade attack.
On November 27, 2018, the death references on the cases had reached the HC for examination. Soon after receiving the death references, the Supreme Court authority tool special measure to prepare the paper book of the cases.
As the paper book has already been prepared in the meantime, now the chief justice will send the death references to a High Court bench for hearing and disposing of the death references, Supreme Court Spokesman Md Saifur Rahman said.
