The High Court yesterday issued a rule asking the government to explain why seven prisoners, who have been languishing in Jail for more than 12 years without trial, should not be granted bail. The HC bench also directed authorities concerned of Kashimpur jail to produce them before the court on January 24 next year for hearing their statements.
The seven prisoners are: Russel Sheikh of Sadar upazila in Kushita district, Saidur Rahman of Badda, Masud of Motijheel and Rajib Hossain of Keraniganj of Dhaka, Pervez of Brahmanbaria district, Liton of Kalmakanda in Netrakona district and Shahabuddin, of Joydevpur in Gazipur district.
In a suo moto move, the HC bench comprising Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice JBM Hassan came up with the order and rule following a report telecast on a private television channel on December 9. The report was placed by Bahesti Marjan, a lawyer of the Supreme Court Legal Aid Services, before the court, seeking its directives over the matter. The seven prisoners have been languishing in Kashimpur Jail for over 12 years without trial in different cases which is a violation of human rights, Marjan added.
According to the report, there was little progress in the trial proceedings of the cases at the lower courts concerned. There are 462 inmates in 58 prisons with their trial proceedings yet to be completed, according to a report prepared by the prison authorities. The office of the inspector general of prisons submitted the report to the Supreme Court Legal Aid Committee (SCLAC) on December 7.
The SCLAC on November 16 sent letters to the authorities of all the 68 jails across the country, seeking names and particulars of prisoners whose trials have been going on for long, saying it would provide legal assistance to those who are not financially solvent.
The report shows that the highest number of such accused is in four Kashimpur jails -- 87 prisoners in total. Of them, 57 are in Kashimpur Central Jail-2 alone.
The Chittagong Central Jail has 56 such prisoners, Cox's Bazar District Jail 31, Comilla District Jail 17 and Sylhet Central Jail 14. The number of under-trial accused in jails across the country for less than five years is more than 55,000, jail sources said.