HC verdict on death reference, appeals Jan 23

The High Court yesterday fixed January 23 for delivering its verdict on the death reference and appeals in the sensational Zubair Ahmed murder case.

The HC bench of Justice Bhabani Prasad Singha and Justice Mustafa Zaman Islam set the date for delivering the verdict after concluding the hearing on the death references and appeals for nine days.

If a lower court sentences any person to death in a case, its judgment is examined by the HC through hearing arguments for confirmation of the death sentence. The case documents and judgment reach as death reference to the HC from the lower court in seven days after the latter delivers the verdict.

Zubair Ahmed, an honours final year student of English department at Jahangirnagar University, was tortured and stabbed allegedly by some activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) on January 8, 2012. He succumbed to his injuries in a Dhaka hospital the following day.

A Dhaka court on February 8, 2015, sentenced five accused to death and six others to life imprisonment for the killing.