Bangladesh

30 years imprisonment in case of life term, full sentence declared Life Imprisonment
Screengrab from YouTube Supreme Court

30 years imprisonment in case of life term, full sentence declared

Bangladesh Live News | @banglalivenews | 16 Jul 2021, 01:42 pm

Dhaka, July 16: The full verdict of the Appellate Division has been published that life term means 30 years imprisonment. However, if the verdict is specified in a particular case, life imprisonment will be considered as 'death penalty'. The 120-page verdict was published on the Supreme Court's website on Thursday (July 15).

Earlier, on December 1 last year, the Appellate Division ruled that life imprisonment means death penalty. An eight-judge appellate bench headed by the chief justice delivered the verdict. Advocate Khandaker Mahbub Hossain appeared for the review petition in the court that day. Attorney General Mahbubey Alam (deceased) represented the state.

On April 11 last year, the court appointed four senior lawyers as amicus curiae to present legal views on whether life imprisonment means life imprisonment.

On October 15, 2003, a court sentenced two accused Ataur Rahman Mridha alias Ataur and Anwar Hossain to death in a murder case. The death reference (approval of death sentence) came to the High Court for hearing the appeal of the accused against the verdict and approval of the death sentence. Following the hearing of these petitions, the death sentence of two accused was upheld by the High Court on October 30, 2007. The accused appealed to the Appellate Division against the judgment of the High Court.

On 14 February 2017, the Appellate Division reduced the death sentence of the two accused to life imprisonment. At the same time, the court ruled in favor of seven points, including life imprisonment. The appeal was then appealed for reconsideration.