Why keeping convicts in condemned cells before the final verdict ought not to be illegal: HC
The High Court has asked the authorities to explain why it ought not to be declared illegal to keep death-row convicts in condemned cells before their appeal and review applications are disposed of.
A bench of M Mujibur Rahman Mia and Justice Ahmed Sohail passed the rule on Tuesday after hearing a writ petition.
The home ministry's secretary for public security, law secretary, inspector general of police, IG prisons, senior jail supers of Chattogram, Sylhet and Cumilla Central prisons have been asked to respond to the rule within a month.
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At the same time, the court wanted to know why Rule 980 of the Jail Code relating to condemned cells ought not to be repealed.
Besides, the court has asked for information in the form of a report within six months as to what kind of facilities are available for the accused kept in condemned cells.
Lawyer Mohammad Shishir Monir appeared for the writ petition while Deputy Attorney General Bipul Bagmar represented the state.
Shishir Monir told journalists, as per rule 980 of the Jail Code, "Every prisoner sentenced to death shall, from the date of his sentence, and without waiting for the sentence to be confirmed by the High Court Division (Supreme Court), be confined in some safe place, a cell if possible, within the jail, apart from all other prisoners. The cell or room in which a convict condemned to death is confined shall invariably, before he is placed in it, be examined by the Jailor, who shall satisfy himself with its fitness and safety, and shall record the result of the examination in his report book."
He said in the final verdict, the death sentence, in many cases, gets reduced to life imprisonment or even the convict is acquitted. This rule is a violation of human rights. So it has been challenged.
Zillur Rahman, now in a condemned cell at Chattogram jail, Abdul Bashir, in Sylhet jail, and Shah Alam, in Cumilla jail, filed the writ petitions in the High Court in June last year challenging the legality of keeping the death-row convicts in condemned cells.
