The High Court will deliver its judgment any day now in the rule issued over keeping death-row convict to the condemned cell before all legal options have been exhausted.
The HC bench of Justice Sheikh Hassan Arif and Justice Md Bazlur Rahman kept the verdict pending on Tuesday, after completing the the final hearing on the rule.
Advocate Shishir Monir stood for the petitioner.
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On April 6, last year, the High Court issued a rule questioning the legality of keeping death row convicts in condemned cells before the disposal of their cases.
At the same time, the court issued a rule asking why Regulation 980 of Bangladesh Jail Code regarding this provision should not be declared unconstitutional.
Besides, it has directed the Inspector General of Prisons (IG Prisons) to submit a report in six months regarding the facilities provided for the convicts in the condemned cell.
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The secretaries of Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, inspector general of police (IGP), IG Prisons and senior jail supers in Chattogram, Sylhet and Cumilla were made respondents to the rule and asked to respond within four weeks.
Advocate Shishir said there is no legal provision to execute the death sentence immediately after the verdict is pronounced in the court. There are a number of necessary legal steps that must be taken to execute a death sentence.
“The approval of the High Court Division is required to carry out execution under Section 374 of the Criminal Procedure Code. At the same time, according to Section 410 of the Criminal Procedure Code, there is a provision to file an appeal in the High Court Division,” said the lawyer.
If the High Court Division upholds the death penalty, the convicted person may appeal directly to the Appellate Division as a constitutional right, he added.
Besides, under Article 105 of the Constitution, there is a legal opportunity to appeal against the verdict of the appellate court.
Above all, a death row convict can seek an apology from the President under Article 49 of the Constitution. If the President does not grant the pardon then the death penalty is legal.
But the convict is transferred to the condemned cell immediately after receiving a death penalty in the judicial process of Bangladesh, said lawyer Shishir.
On September 2 last year, three death row convicts filed the writ petition in the High Court. Their appeals against the death penalty are still pending in the High Court.
Before HC approves the death penalty, transferring the convict to the condemned cell is a violation of the fundamental rights given in Articles 27, 31 and 32 of the Constitution, reads the writ petition.
Similarly, keeping the convict in the condemned cell before disposal of the review petition and clemency appeal to the President is violating the fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution, it added.