The Supreme Court (SC) yesterday (Wednesday) observed that the armed forces should not take the responsibility of deviant officers and jawans who were involved in committing crimes by killing national leaders.
“There is a dark side of the Bangladesh armed forces as some aberrant officers participated in the killing of the Father of  the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and other members of his family, his kith and kin. They also committed a heinous crime like killing of four national leaders in Dhaka Central Jail”—this was observed in the full text of the apex court verdict released yesterday. It was delivered by a four-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha.
The verdict said: “Some of the aberrant personnel also brutally killed President Ziaur Rahman. Some misguided power-mongering high-ranking officers declared martial law in 1975 and 1982. The National Forces should not take the responsibility of these deviant officers and jawans.”
Some of the officers compelled the President to declare emergency in the country on the January 11, 2007.  It was  practically not their sole responsibility because then President, Prof. Dr Yeaz Uddin Ahmed, in violation of the constitutional provisions then prevailing, assumed the functions of the chief advisor of the non-party caretaker   government, in addition to his own functions under Clause (6) of Article 58C of the Constitution, the verdict observed.
This illegal assumption of power inflamed the political parties and public in general. It is also not comprehensible how this regime arrested Sheikh Hasina, the present Prime Minister, who was not the immediate past prime minister of the country, on grounds of corruption without arresting the immediate past prime minister, according to the verdict.
The verdict said: “The political  party in power did not find such corruption case in five years against Sheikh Hasina, but  the regime compelled one to file the corruption case against her. There was whispering as to their impartiality in  the  process of arresting in the name of prevention and corruption by the regime. After such whispering, the regime arrested the  immediate past prime minister, Begum Khaleda Zia. This raised questions as to the motive behind such  arrests.  The regime  indiscriminately  arrested political personalities and businessmen. The country was on the brink of economic collapse for indiscriminate arrest of politicians and businessmen by some ambitious officers of the armed forces. Illegal usurping of executive powers and excessive exercise of power by some officers of the armed forces without sanction of law  shattered and disparaged the respect of the people towards them.”
However, the apex court hoped that the armed forces would lead the nation in a similar fashion as the four generals of the USA led its forces with such pride, respect and trust of its citizens.
On March 17 this year, the four-member bench of the Appellate Division, headed by the Chief Justice, dismissed separate appeals filed by the Bangladesh Bank (BB) against the High Court verdicts that had directed the government to return around Tk. 615 crore, which was realised from several companies during the Army-backed caretaker government rule in 2007–8. It also directed the government to refund the money to the businessmen.