News Desk : dhakamirror.com
The High Court (HC) has ruled that it is illegal and unlawful to detain convicts in the condemned cell (blind cell) of the prison before the death sentence is finalised by the verdict of the Supreme Court’s Appellate Division.
The High Court bench of Justice Sheikh Hasan Arif and Justice Md Bazlur Rahman announced this ruling today (13 May).
‘Every prisoner under sentence of death means prisoner whose sentence has been final and executable after all judicial and administrative process,’ the bench of Justice Sheikh Hassan Arif and Justice Md Bazlur Rahman issued the ruling
The verdict says, ‘The process means disposal of appeal by the High Court and appellate division and the review petition and the mercy petition by the Hon’ble President.’
The HC pronounced the verdict after disposing of a writ petition filed by condemned prisoners Zillur Rahman of Chattogram Central Jail, Abdul Basir of Sunamganj District Jail, and Shah Alam of Cumilla Central Jail in April 2023, challenging the legality of keeping them in isolated cells before the completion of trial processes.
They argued that appeals are part of a trial process.
The High Court, in the verdict, asked the jail authorities to shift all condemned prisoners from the condemned cells to general cells in two years.
It, however, ruled that the jail authorities might keep a particular condemned prisoner in an isolated cell ‘considering exceptional circumstances in case of contagious disease or homosexuality etc.’
The HC also ordered allowing death sentence recipients to file bail applications in the High Court like other prisoners and grant bail to them in appropriate cases under Section 426 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
It also asked the jail authorities to equally treat death sentence recipients like any other prisoners.
Supreme Court lawyer Mohammad Shishir Manir provided legal assistance to the three condemned prisoners in the petition.
