Earlier the historic case had remained stalled for about six years for want of sufficient number of judges who could hear it.

Former special public prosecutor of the case, Anisul Haque, said there is no legal roadblock to resume hearing of the case. "It only needs an initiative to have the case back on the cause list and begin the hearing proceedings," he said.

The hearing on petition for leave to appeal against the High Court's verdict has remained held up since August 2001 due to shortage of judges who could hear the case. The problem seemed to be resolved on March 20 when Justice M Hassan Ameen was appointed to the Appellate Division.

But, there is no sign of hope so far due to lack of moves either from the law ministry or by the court for resuming the hearing.

Earlier, the attorney general's office told newsmen that they would consult with the law ministry about the process to resume the case that needs reconstitution of a bench that could hear the case. A source in the Attorney General's office said they have consulted with the law ministry regarding beginning of the case's hearing, but did not get any positive result so far.

"We consulted the ministry also about whether a team of special public prosecutors should be assigned or our office will do the job," the source said.

Asked about the matter, Law Adviser Mainul Hosein yesterday said the court would decide whether a new bench would be formed for disposal of the case.

In about six years, a three-member bench could not be formed as five of the seven Appellate Division judges had either felt embarrassed or heard the case before as HC judges. After Syed JR Mudassir Husain retired as the chief justice on February 28, one post in the seven-member hierarchy of the apex court fell vacant.

To fill the vacancy, President Iajuddin Ahmed appointed Justice M Hassan Ameen to the Appellate Division on March 20. With Justice Ameen's swearing in, the number of judges in the Appellate Division got back to seven.

Of them, three judges -- Tafazzul Islam, Joynul Abedin and Hassan Ameen -- can hear the Bangabandhu Murder Case as none of them felt embarrassed or heard the case before at the HC.

Chief Justice Md Ruhul Amin and Mohammed Fazlul Karim had heard the case while MM Ruhul Amin and Amirul Kabir Chowdhury felt embarrassed to hear it at the HC level.

The case was filed on October 2, 1996 -- 21 years after the assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and most of his family.

A trial court on November 8, 1998, handed down death sentence to 15 retired and dismissed army personnel for the multiple murders.

The HC upheld the punishment of 12. Of them, only five are behind bars, one has died and the rest six are still at large. Later, the four convicts [in jail] filed the petition for leave to appeal.

During hearing at the Appellate Division in August 2001 Justice Mohammad Gholam Rabbani felt embarrassed and the proceedings stopped.

Meantime, the HC judges who had felt embarrassed or heard the case were appointed to the Appellate Division of the SC.

The then BNP-led alliance government did not take any step to resume the hearing despite there being enough room to do so. The then law minister, Moudud Ahmed, repeatedly cited legal complexities as the reason for not seeking to restart the trial.

Between 2001 and 2005, it would take the appointment of only one judge on ad hoc basis to meet the requirement of three judges for a bench. Later when Justice MA Aziz was appointed the chief election commissioner, the number rose to two.

In October 2001, the then chief justice Mahmudul Amin Choudhury wanted to have a judge in the Appellate Division appointed on an ad hoc basis and suggested that the government do so, but to no avail.