HC questions validity of death penalty without clear guidelines
Court
The High Court today issued a rule asking authorities concerned why it would not be illegal to sentence an accused to death for a criminal offence without specific guidelines.
The court also asked why a policy guideline will not be formulated on sentencing an accused to death.
The High Court bench of Justice Mustafa Zaman Islam and Justice Md Atabullah issued the rule following a hearing of a writ petition on the matter.
The Law and Justice Division secretary, the Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs Division secretary, and the registrar general of the Supreme Court have made respondents to the rule. They have been asked to respond within four weeks.
Deputy Attorney General Tushar Kanti Roy and Assistant Attorney General Salim Azad represented the state during today's hearing of the writ petition filed by Supreme Court lawyer Ishrat Hasan on 7 December.
The writ petition states that the Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure provide for the death penalty as punishment.
However, the provisions of the death penalty are inconsistent with Articles 32 and 35 of the Constitution, it added.
Moreover, it added that Bangladesh is a signatory to several conventions that prohibit the death penalty as punishment. A total of 112 countries of the world have already banned the death penalty.
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