DHAKA, Aug 27, 2026 (BSS) - The High Court (HC) has delivered 17 verdicts over the past two and a half months, prioritising the hearing of death references and appeals in cases filed under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act to speed up the disposal of serious criminal cases.

Chief Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury on June 10 constituted a dedicated HC bench, on a priority basis, to dispose of death references for confirmation of death sentences awarded under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act, as well as appeals arising from the same judgments.

To conduct the cases before the bench, the state formed a special prosecution team led by Attorney General Barrister Md Ruhul Quddus Kazal. 

The team comprises Deputy Attorneys General Mohammad Imam Hossain Tarek and Syed Ejaz Kabir, along with Assistant Attorneys General Mahbuba Tasnim Akhi, Mostafizur Rahman Mukul, Ashraful Alam, Rohani Siddika and Al Amin Siddiqui.

The High Court Division bench comprising Justice Bhishmadev Chakrabortty and Justice KM Rasheduzzaman Raja pronounced judgment in 17 cases so far including Nusrat murder trial, the case filed over murder of Jharna in Pirojpur and case filed over rape and murder of Rima in Shariatpur.

The High Court on August 24 upheld the death sentences of SM Siraj Uddoula and Md Shahadat Hossain Shamim in the case lodged over the sensational murder of Nusrat Jahan Rafi, a Madrasah student from Sonagazi in Feni.

The court also commuted the death sentences of four other convicts to life imprisonment, while acquitting 10 others, initially sentenced to death by lower court concerned. Meanwhile, the court also ordered the removal of judge who sentenced 16 to death in case from criminal trial duties.

The High Court Division bench on August 25 fixed August 31 for pronouncing its judgment on the death reference and jail appeals in the case filed over the rape and murder of eight-year-old Asiya in Magura.

Besides, when the death reference in the case filed over the rape and murder of eight-year-old Ramisa in Pallabi of the capital was placed on the cause list of this special HC bench on June 16, the court directed the appointment of state defence lawyers for death-row convicts Sohel Rana and his wife Swapna Akter.

"The High Court bench has delivered verdicts in 17 cases after hearing death references and appeals in nearly two and a half months since it began its first working day on June 14. Besides, one of the delivered verdicts was recalled. Delivering verdicts in so many death reference cases within such a short time is certainly exemplary," said Deputy Attorney General Mohammad Imam Hossain Tarek.

Under Section 374 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, every death sentence imposed by a trial court must be confirmed by the High Court before it can be carried out. To facilitate this mandatory judicial review, the trial court forwards its judgment along with the complete case records to the High Court in the form of a death reference.

The High Court then hears the death reference together with any appeal filed by the condemned prisoner or a jail appeal submitted from prison before delivering its final judgment on the conviction and sentence.