Bangladesh
Life Imprisonment If the verdict does not mention till death, life imprisonment is 30 years: High Court
Dhaka, December 1: The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has ruled that a convict sentenced to life imprisonment is liable to imprisonment for up to 30 years, if the sentence does not mention 'till death'.
In the summary judgment, the court said that life imprisonment means death penalty, which states, ‘Initially, life imprisonment means the rest of the life of a convicted person until his natural death. But if sections 45 and 53 of the Criminal Procedure Code, Sections 55 and 57 of the Penal Code and Section 35 (a) of the Criminal Procedure Code are read together, life imprisonment means 30 years imprisonment. But if a person is sentenced to death by a tribunal or the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) for 30 years, the convicted person will not get the benefit of Section 35 (a) of the Criminal Procedure Code.
A full virtual bench of the seven-member Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain passed the verdict on Tuesday (December 1st) on the basis of a majority vote.
Senior lawyers Khandaker Mahbub Hossain and Shishir Muhammad Monir appeared for the court. On the other hand, Attorney General AM Amin Uddin and Deputy Attorney General Biswajit Debnath were present at the state hearing.
After the verdict, Attorney General AM Amin Uddin said, "Life imprisonment means 30 years imprisonment. However, if the court or the tribunal sentences him to death, that will be considered."
Defendant's lawyer Khandaker Mahbub Hossain said, "In the verdict, the Appellate Division has said that life imprisonment is a life sentence. But according to the provisions of the law, a life sentence should be sentenced to at least 30 years. In that case the accused will get other concessions of law. If the court does not specifically order that he be put to death."
The Supreme Court explained the verdict in the case of life imprisonment. It said that if the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code and the Penal Code are read together, life imprisonment means 30 years imprisonment. However, if a person is sentenced to death by a court, tribunal or international criminal tribunal, the convicted person will not get the benefit of Section 35A of the Criminal Procedure Code.
In 2001, a man named Zaman Yasin was shot dead in Savar. The trial court sentenced the two accused to death in the murder case on October 15, 2003. The two accused are Ataur Mridha and Anwar Hossain.
