The Supreme Court chamber judge has fixed December 8 for the hearing of appeals and leave-to-appeal petitions filed against the High Court verdict in the sensational Biswajit Das murder case. Chamber Justice Md. Rezaul Haque set the date on Monday following an appeal by the state, moving the much-discussed trial towards its final legal resolution in the Appellate Division.
The incident dates back to December 9, 2012, when Biswajit Das, a tailor by profession, was brutally beaten and hacked to death near Bahadur Shah Park in Old Dhaka during a political blockade. Despite trying to flee for his life, he was cornered near Shankharibazar and brutally assaulted. He was subsequently taken to Mitford Hospital on a rickshaw, where doctors declared him dead. The gruesome nature of the killing sparked widespread public outrage and nationwide protests across Bangladesh.
Following the murder, law enforcement agencies initiated a thorough investigation, leading to a swift trial. On December 18, 2013, Dhaka's Speedy Trial Tribunal-4 delivered its verdict, sentencing eight defendants to death and thirteen others to life imprisonment out of twenty-one accused individuals. Subsequently, the death reference cases along with appeals were transferred to the High Court for confirmation.
On August 6, 2017, the High Court delivered its verdict on the death references and appeals. The court upheld the death penalty for only two of the eight convicts, commuted the death sentence of four others to life imprisonment, and acquitted two individuals. Additionally, two of the thirteen convicts given life imprisonment by the trial court were acquitted, while legal proceedings regarding others continued.
Dissatisfied with certain aspects of the High Court's ruling, the state filed leave-to-appeal petitions seeking stricter penalties, while the convicts also filed appeals seeking acquittal. With the chamber judge setting December 8 for the comprehensive hearings in the regular bench of the Appellate Division, the nation awaits the final chapter of this landmark judicial proceeding.
