Ashutosh Sarkar

Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain has further administered oath to 18 High Court judges on Saturday night, hours after they were virtually sworn in.

The High Court is yet to deliver any order over the “partial negligence” of Dhaka city corporations regarding last year’s dengue outbreak in the capital, although a judicial inquiry report on the issue was submitted to the court two months back.

Though a High Court bench was ready to hold hearing on the sensational Feni madrasa student Nusrat Jahan Rafi murder case, it cannot start the proceedings as the court functions are closed due to ongoing coronavirus outbreak.

Final justice is yet to be delivered to the family members of the then Awami League lawmaker Ahsanullah Master, who was brutally killed in 2004, as the appeals in connection with his murder case are still now pending with the apex court.

Legal experts and rights activists have expressed grave concern over continuous filing of cases and subsequent arrests of journalists under the Digital Security Act, saying that the law was formulated and now being enforced to “gag the media and freedom of expression”.

Convicted war criminal ATM Azharul Islam's lawyers have prepared a 26-page review petition containing 14 grounds for seeking reconsideration of the Supreme Court verdict that upheld his death penalty for his involvement in genocide and crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War.

Shah Alam and Jahanara got married seven years back in Cumilla, and they were living peacefully with their two children despite struggling with finances. But as time went on frequent disputes among family members ultimately led to the two getting divorced.

Some legal tangles have caused an unusual delay in hearing and disposal of the 2001 sensational Ramna Batamul carnage case at the High Court for nearly six years, as two separate HC benches have refused to deal with them for different reasons.

Around 5,000 prisoners, who have been convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment, are yet to know how long they will have to serve in jails, as the Supreme Court has not delivered its verdict on the long pending review petition involving the dispute over the tenure of life imprisonment.

The ongoing coronavirus outbreak has caused a delay in filing appeals with the Supreme Court challenging its High Court verdict in the sensational BDR carnage case.

Judges of the Supreme Court’s appellate and high court divisions have decided in principle that they will work extra time after their office hours in two days a week to reduce the backlog of pending cases.

On August 5, 2015, a man was arrested because five cheques he gave to his business partner bounced -- a criminal offence as per the law. This offence carries one year’s jail term as punishment.

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court yesterday expressed disappointment that the 2003 High Court verdict, barring police from making arbitrary arrests on suspicion and torturing people during remand, have not been executed in 17 years.

Declaring gambling in any form, involving cards or roll of the dice or luck and through games like bingo, a criminal offence, the High Court yesterday asked the government to stop these nationwide.

Neither the defence nor the state side in the 2009 BDR mutiny case have yet received the certified copy of the High Court verdict, which is necessary for them to move appeals before the Supreme Court’s Appellate Division, challenging the HC judgement.

The High Court has stressed the need for preventing financial scams in the banking sector.

The Supreme Court yesterday upheld the death sentence of former Jatiya Party leader Syed Mohammad Qaisar, for his involvement in crimes against humanity and war crimes -- including killing and rape -- during the 1971 Liberation War.

The intention of the massacre and atrocities at the BDR Pilkhana headquarters in 2009 was to depose the newly formed Awami League-led government, create a political crisis, and damage democracy, said the High Court in the full text of the BDR mutiny case verdict.

The government has taken an initiative to appoint 100 assistant judges to lower courts, in addition to another 100 whose appointments are now under process.

The inspector general of police needs to take necessary measures to ensure quick probe into allegations against law enforcers and actions against those found guilty, the High Court has observed in the full text of a verdict.