HC disposes of 1,151 death reference cases in 13 yrs

Staff Reporter :
A total of 1,151 death reference (capital punishment-related) cases have been settled by the High Court in the past 13 years amid a significant rise in the backlog of such cases, according to a Supreme Court (SC) report.
According to a Supreme Court report released recently the HC settled the above-mentioned number of cases from 2010 to October 16, 2022, out of the total 1,545 death reference cases registered.
The highest number of such cases was settled by different HC benches in 2012. The HC disposed of 145 cases in the year. A total of 171 such cases, the highest in number, were registered with the HC in 2017, of which 66 were settled down by different HC benches in the year.
Total 76 cases were registered with the HC in 2010 and of them 43 were disposed of in the same period, while 152 cases were filed with the HC until October 16, 2022 and 125 of them were settled in the same period, according to the SC data.
If a lower court sentences any person to death in a case, its judgment is examined by the HC through hearing arguments for confirmation of the death sentence. The case documents
and judgment reach as death reference to the HC from the lower court in seven days after the latter delivers the verdict.
A total of 17 death reference cases were settled from September 4, 2022 to September 21, 2022 by different HC vacation benches, while the number was 12 from September 22, 2022 to October 13, 2022.
If the HC upholds the death sentence, the convicted person can appeal to the Appellate Division.
After disposal of the review of the apex court, the convict may seek pardon from the President if necessary. If the President does not grant the pardon, the execution of the death penalty becomes legalised ultimately.
Death-row convicts have to stay into condemned cells in the country’ various jails for long time after the announcement of the verdict by a trial court.
Considering the fact, the Chief Justice Hasan Foez Siddique took the initiative to dispose of those matter expeditiously and speedily even by different vacation HC benches alongside regular benches, said Appellate Division Registrar Mohammad Saifur Rahman.
The top court has always taken those important matters seriously in the past and will put more importance on it in the coming days, added the official.