Dhaka – The High Court (HC) on Wednesday ordered compensation and immediate release of a man on the ground that he was “wrongly convicted” 15 years ago.
Court officials said the single-judge bench of Justice AFM Abdur Rahman overturned the 2010 verdict by the then additional sessions judge of Bhola and ordered a compensation of Taka 5,000,000 for one Abdul Jalil.Jalil was first convicted for rape under Women and Children Repression Prevention Act by a special tribunal in Bhola in 2004 and handed down rigorous life imprisonment.
On an appeal filed by Jalil from the prison, a High Court bench subsequently ordered his retrial as the court and the related law was meant for accused over 18 years of age while Jalil was 15 when the crime took place.
But the additional sessions’ judge’s court also handed down the life imprisonment, a verdict which he challenged again before the High Court.
After a protracted hearings, the High Court on December 15, 2015 found the second trial court’s verdict wrong as well and ordered his immediate release along with the amount of compensation.
“The High Court verdict was released Wednesday in writing to be executed immediately,” HC additional registrar Sabbir Foyez said.
The development came a day after another High Court bench issued a landmark ruling over the unlawful imprisonment of an accused in Satkhira for long 13 years.
The bench asked authorities concerned to explain why they should not be ordered to pay Taka 20,00,000 to Jabed Ali who languished in jail for 13 years despite being declared innocent by the High Court. – Agencies
