The High Court on Tuesday directed the judge of Dhaka’s Special Judge’s Court No 2 to investigate the sending of day labourer Md Liton of Bhola to jail as his name was the same as that of a convicted fugitive. The court has ordered the release of the jailed person if the investigation finds that he is not the actual convict. Justice Tariq ul Hakim and Justice SM Kuddus Zaman passed the order after hearing a writ petition.
Human rights group Ain O Salish Kendra and the jailed man’s lawyer jointly filed the writ last week challenging the legality of sending him to jail saying the man has been in jail for about eight months for crimes committed by another man. Surprisingly both bear the same name, father’s name, village address and other identity except the fact that they are of different ages. The jailed man is 30 years of age while the real culprit is 41 years old. A recent report published in a national daily in this regard was attached to the writ.
We would say, if the fact is true and that needs to be further probed as the court has ordered, it is clearly a miscarriage of justice, most likely in a framed up case in which a poor man has been punished for crimes committed by another man. But the question arises why the victim didn’t strongly produce his identity and innocence or whether he was undone while police acted for the other man, may be a local powerful one to allow him to escape punishment and probably leave the country.
Some lucky individuals are saved for the intervention of the Supreme Court but innumerable others are being added to suffer injustices. The Supreme Court has to seriously consider how strong a role it should play to establish the rule of law under the Constitution. The lower judiciary needs to be saved as a place for police excesses and easy interferences from above.
Unless the Supreme Court takes a firm decision together, we are concerned that then not only the lower judiciary but soon the higher judiciary will also be defied. The government has damaged the police as law enforcers. The Supreme Court should take a strong position to save the police and save justice.
