death penalty sans policy: High Court questions legality

Staff reporter  :
The High Court has questions the legality of the provisions for issuing death penalty without forming any guideline.

It issued a rule upon the concerned bodies of the government to explain as to why imposition of sentence of ‘death penalty’ without any guideline as a general course of punishment should not be declared illegal.

It also wanted to know in the rule to explain as to why the respondents should not be directed to frame a guideline regarding application of discretion in awarding ‘death penalty’ to a convict.

The HC bench of Justice Mustafa Zaman Islam and Justice Md Atabullah issued the order after hearing a writ petition filed by Ishrat Hasan, a Supreme Court lawyer, seeking necessary directives regarding the matter.

The Secretary of the Law Ministry’s Law and Justice Division, the Secretary of the Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs Division, and the Registrar General of the Supreme Court have been asked to comply with the rule.

Lawyer Ishrat Hasan herself appeared in support of his petition, while Deputy Attorney General Tushar Kanti Roy and Assistant Attorney General Md Selim Azad represented the state during hearing of the petition.

Ishrat Hasan filed the petition on December 7 last year challenging the legality of the provision for the death penalty in the Country’s criminal justice system.