In a rare case, the High Court (HC) yesterday declared two persons innocent, 29 years after they had served a three-year jail term in connection with cattle smuggling.

The two are Abdul Quader and Mofizur Rahman of Jessore. Quader is still alive, while Mofizur did not live to see the day when he would be  declared innocent.

The HC verdict frees the two from a stigma, the lawyer concerned said.

According to the case statement, Amir Ali, lance nayek in the then Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), filed a case against the two on charges of illegally smuggling six heads of cattle into Bangladesh from India in 1986. The same year, a Jessore court sentenced them to five years' imprisonment.

They filed an appeal before the erstwhile Jessore High Court against the lower court conviction in 1987. Following their appeal, the Jessore HC granted them bail and issued a rule as to why the lower court verdict should not be declared illegal.

After the HC order, Abdul Quader and Mofizur Rahman were freed from jail in 1989. In 1989, the Jessore HC was abolished and the case record was sent to Dhaka’s High Court. Since then, the case had been pending before the HC for disposal. The Supreme Court Legal Aid Committee recently mentioned the case before the HC for its hearing.

After completing all necessary formalities, the HC bench asked the parties to take part in the hearing. The single member bench of the HC, comprising Justice Rezaul Haque, concluded the hearing and fixed Wednesday for delivering its verdict.

In its verdict, after allowing their appeal, the HC bench yesterday acquitted them from the charges, saying the prosecution had failed to prove the allegations brought against them.

Advocate Kumar Debuldey, one of the panel lawyers of the Supreme Court Legal Aid Committee, told The Independent that the prosecution failed to prove the allegations brought against Quader and Mofizur.

Following the High Court verdict, Quader and Mofizur were freed from the stigma that they had been bearing since 1986.

In response to a query, advocate Kumar Debuldey said the case was pending before the HC for long as the accused were not aware about the case and they did not show interest in its disposal. To another query, he said there is no law in the country to pay compensation for languishing in jail without any offence.