Court to hear arguments again
Court to hear arguments again
A Dhaka court dealing with the long-pending Manzoor murder case will hear the case arguments again on February 27 following appointment of a new judge.
According to a previously fixed date, the court was scheduled to pronounce its judgement in the sensational case filed in connection with the 1981 murder.
But just a week before the verdict was scheduled to delivered, the judge of the court was transferred, making it uncertain as to when the judgment would be delivered.
Today, newly appointed Judge Khondker Hasan Md Firoz of the First Additional District Session and Judges’ Court of Dhaka decided to hear the closing argument again, terming the case as an “old” and “sensational” case.
“I have joined the court recently. I am not aware of the case. So, I shall have to scrutinise all the documents of the case and hear both the prosecution and the defence,” the Judge said.
“Moreover, statements, of the accused while they were examined in the case, were not properly written. So, I shall hear the argument withdrawing the judgment and fix the next date for hearing argument,” the court observed.
The prime accused Jatiya Party chief former military dictator HM Ershad and other accused Maj (retd) Kazi Emdadul Haque, Lt Col (retd) Mostafa Kamaluddin Bhuiyan were present before the court today.
The case has seen 22 judges since it was filed on August 28, 1995, and the judges were either promoted or transferred to other districts.
The case filed in 1995 during the then BNP-led government has never got the pace for disposal. The trial began in 1999 when the Awami League-led government was in power.
But it suddenly got pace in July last year after Ershad had refused to extend support to the AL-nominated mayoral candidate in the Gazipur City Corporation election.
At that stage, both the prosecution and the defence placed their arguments.
Hearing of the case resumed in November and on completion of hearing on January 22, the court fixed February 10 for delivering the verdict.
The Dhaka district judge on January 29 transferred Judge Begum Hosne Ara Aktar of the Manzoor murder case to another court replacing Judge Khondker Hasan Md Firoz.
Maj Gen Abul Manzoor was killed at Chittagong Cantonment on June 1, 1981, just two days into the assassination of the then president Ziaur Rahman.
Manzoor, who was the commander of Sector-8 during the Liberation War, was believed to have carried out an abortive Chittagong coup in which Zia was killed.