Gulam Rabbani :
Hearing on more than five hundred ‘jail appeals’ cannot be started as the judgment copies of those cases were not sent to the Supreme Court (SC).
In some cases decades have been past. Even some prisoners have already completed their sentence period, but their jail appeals are yet to hear in the High Court (HC).
Recently, a list of 529 jail appeals has been prepared after the Chief Justice’s direction. This jail appeals are still pending in the HC.
The sentence period of many of the Appellants has been expired. In this circumstances, the Supreme Court (SC) Administration has sent letters to 35 jails across the country seeking information about the Appellant prisoners.
The poor and the helpless prisoners, who don’t have the ability to conduct cases in the Supreme Court, may appeal through jail authorities against lower court verdict.
But many prisoners don’t get the copy of the verdict as they stay in jail. Sometimes they appeal through jail authorities without any copy of the judgment. This is why hearing on those appeals has been stopped.
Syed Aminul Islam, Registrar General of the Supreme Court, said that many jail appeals come to the SC without judgment copy. These appeals cannot be prepared for hearing as those were sent incomplete.
A list of unsettled jail appeals has been prepared and sent to the jails so that the jail authorities could send judgment copies of the cases, he said.
According to the Supreme Court’s letter, some jail authorities sent jail appeals without any judgment copy. Even they did not take any step to send the judgment later. But the judges felt embarrass hearing on an appeal without any judgment copy.
The letter also said, it is not possible for judges to take any decision about any jail appeal without any judgment. But in the mean time, sentence period of many prisoners has been expired. In this circumstance, the letter has been issued to the jail authorities to send the judgments of the listed prisoners.
The Supreme Court letter to the Senior Jail Superintendent of the Dhaka Central Jail contains the information of 129 prisoners. But hearing did not held on those jail appeals as the jail authorities failed to send judgment copy with them. Many prisoners of the list have already completed their sentence period in the jail.
Special Tribunal-2 of Dhaka sentenced Sagor Hossain Dollar for 7 years in a case on July 24 in 2005. Sagor appealed to the High Court through jail authority. The jail authority sent the appeal petition to the HC on September 25 of that year. But no copy of the judgment was with that petition. Even they did not send it later. This is why Sagor’s jail appeal is pending in the HC for more than 11 years.
Like this, jail appeal of Abdul Hye, who was sentenced for only two years in the lower court, is pending with the HC for more than 10 years. A Dhaka court sentenced him in a case on May 9, 2006. He also appealed through jail authority on June 27 of the same year. But his appeal petition is also pending for years as the jail authority did not sent his judgment copy.
Hearing on more than five hundred ‘jail appeals’ cannot be started as the judgment copies of those cases were not sent to the Supreme Court (SC).
In some cases decades have been past. Even some prisoners have already completed their sentence period, but their jail appeals are yet to hear in the High Court (HC).
Recently, a list of 529 jail appeals has been prepared after the Chief Justice’s direction. This jail appeals are still pending in the HC.
The sentence period of many of the Appellants has been expired. In this circumstances, the Supreme Court (SC) Administration has sent letters to 35 jails across the country seeking information about the Appellant prisoners.
The poor and the helpless prisoners, who don’t have the ability to conduct cases in the Supreme Court, may appeal through jail authorities against lower court verdict.
But many prisoners don’t get the copy of the verdict as they stay in jail. Sometimes they appeal through jail authorities without any copy of the judgment. This is why hearing on those appeals has been stopped.
Syed Aminul Islam, Registrar General of the Supreme Court, said that many jail appeals come to the SC without judgment copy. These appeals cannot be prepared for hearing as those were sent incomplete.
A list of unsettled jail appeals has been prepared and sent to the jails so that the jail authorities could send judgment copies of the cases, he said.
According to the Supreme Court’s letter, some jail authorities sent jail appeals without any judgment copy. Even they did not take any step to send the judgment later. But the judges felt embarrass hearing on an appeal without any judgment copy.
The letter also said, it is not possible for judges to take any decision about any jail appeal without any judgment. But in the mean time, sentence period of many prisoners has been expired. In this circumstance, the letter has been issued to the jail authorities to send the judgments of the listed prisoners.
The Supreme Court letter to the Senior Jail Superintendent of the Dhaka Central Jail contains the information of 129 prisoners. But hearing did not held on those jail appeals as the jail authorities failed to send judgment copy with them. Many prisoners of the list have already completed their sentence period in the jail.
Special Tribunal-2 of Dhaka sentenced Sagor Hossain Dollar for 7 years in a case on July 24 in 2005. Sagor appealed to the High Court through jail authority. The jail authority sent the appeal petition to the HC on September 25 of that year. But no copy of the judgment was with that petition. Even they did not send it later. This is why Sagor’s jail appeal is pending in the HC for more than 11 years.
Like this, jail appeal of Abdul Hye, who was sentenced for only two years in the lower court, is pending with the HC for more than 10 years. A Dhaka court sentenced him in a case on May 9, 2006. He also appealed through jail authority on June 27 of the same year. But his appeal petition is also pending for years as the jail authority did not sent his judgment copy.
