Man loses 6yrs amid confusion

Six years ago, the Supreme Court issued an order creating the scope for his release from jail. But Azaher Ali Raza could not walk free.

The man, now 40, has been languishing in the condemned cell of Dinajpur District Jail since he was convicted in a murder case and sentenced to death in 2005.

The apex court order did not reach the jail authorities all these years for some unknown reason, causing a procedural lapse and confusion about his release.

After a primary hearing on a criminal miscellaneous petition filed by the attorney general's office, the SC stayed a High Court verdict that acquitted Azaher in 2010.

After the final hearing, the apex court issued an order in 2012 asking the government to file a leave-to-appeal petition against the acquittal in two weeks.

The apex court said the criminal miscellaneous petition (or stay petition) will be automatically dismissed if the leave petition is not filed in two weeks, implying that Azaher will have the right to be freed.

"Two weeks' time is granted to file the regular leave petition, failing which the criminal miscellaneous petition shall stand dismissed," said a seven-member bench of the SC headed by the then chief justice Md Muzammel Hossain on October 1, 2012.

The government failed to file the petition in two weeks, meaning the criminal miscellaneous petition got automatically dismissed and the HC judgment stood upheld.

But the SC order of 2012 did not reach the Dinajpur jail over the years and Azaher remained in the condemned cell.     

The matter came to light after the Dinajpur jail authorities recently communicated it to the Supreme Court Legal Aid Committee (SCLAC).

The SCLAC looked into it and requested the SC authorities to send the SC order to Dinajpur jail so that Azaher, an inhabitant of Joydevpur village in Dinajpur Sadar upazila, is released.

The SC authorities yesterday sent a certified copy of the 2012 order to the jail authorities, clearing the way for Azaher's release.

"Really!" was the reaction of his mother Mansura Begum when our Dinajpur correspondent met her at her house yesterday afternoon.

"It is you who first gave me this news. I'm so happy that my son will be free," said Mansura Begum, in her mid 60s.

Contacted, Md Sayeed Hossain, superintendent of Dinajpur District Jail, said he will take necessary steps for Azaher's release immediately after receiving the SC order.

"I have heard that the office concerned of the Supreme Court has reissued a certified copy of the apex court order today [yesterday] and sent it by post.

"The order might reach my office tomorrow [today] or the day after. When my office receives the Supreme Court order, I will release Azaher from jail upon completing relevant procedures."

THE CASE

The jail super could not give details of the murder case and only said Azaher was sentenced to death by a Dinajpur court on July 24, 2005 and acquitted by the High Court in 2010.

According to the convict's family members, he was arrested nearly two months after the murder of his father-in-law Abdul Zabbar in 1997.

Third among the seven siblings, he used to run a small turmeric shop at Kishanbazar village in Dinajpur Sadar upazila.

His daughter was only 11-month-old when he was arrested.

His wife left him. But their daughter, Ajmira, was brought up by her grandmother. She was married off only two years ago and is now a mother of a child.

Azaher's father died in 2000.

"I met my son whenever I could manage to save some money from the old-age allowance. The last time I met him was on December 16 last year at Dinajpur jail," said Mansura Begum.

Jail Super Sayeed Hossain said the then second additional sessions judge of Dinajpur sentenced Azaher to death in the murder case.

Following the appeal filed by the defence, the High Court scrapped the verdict and acquitted him.

The memo of the HC order reached the office of second additional sessions judge of Dinajpur on July 20, 2010.

The Dinajpur jail authorities received the memo the same day from the Dinajpur court office and later communicated with the offices of attorney general and SC registrar about the HC order.

The SC stayed the HC verdict in 2010 after the attorney general's office filed the criminal miscellaneous petition.

The Dinajpur jail authorities had become confused in 2011 as to whether Azaher will be released or not because the anomaly in the date of leave to appeal filed by the government, according to jail documents.

'TREATED AS DISMISSED'

Yesterday, the SC registrar general's office issued an order saying, "As per the said [2012 SC] order, no steps had been taken on behalf of the petitioner [the government] within the stipulated period. Since the petitioner failed to take redress, so, the instant criminal miscellaneous petition is treated as dismissed."

Md Abu Taher Bhuiyan, assistant registrar of the SC, who certified yesterday's order, told The Daily Star that he did not know why the 2012 order was not sent to the Dinajpur court and jail authorities.

He joined the office in 2015 and is not aware of the 2012 order following which the HC verdict on Azaher stood upheld.

Requesting anonymity, an SCLAC high official told this newspaper that this is a very rare incident that an acquitted person could not walk out of jail because the copy of an SC order was not sent to the jail.

He said the implication of 2012 order was that Azaher was acquitted, and it should be investigated to find out who is responsible for his languishing in jail over the last six years.

The official said the SCLAC has pursued the matter after the Dinajpur jail super informed them about it at a meeting on May 12.

Azaher's overstay in prison could have been avoided had the SC office concerned properly communicated with the jail authorities or the lower court and made things clear, he added.  

The SCLAC official also said the family members of Azaher had not taken any initiative to inform the implication of the 2012 SC order to the jail authorities, as they are very poor and not so conscious.  

The Dinajpur jail authorities wrote to SCLAC on March 14 this year and the SC registrar's office on April 25 about the case.

In the last six years, the jail authorities sent at least five letters to the offices of attorney general, SC registrar and SCLAC to know the outcome of the leave to appeal and current status of the case.   

'A PUNISHABLE OFFENCE'

Contacted, Supreme Court Registrar General Md Zakir Hossain told The Daily Star that he did not know why the SC order did not reach the Dinajpur jail authorities.

“I don't communicate the Supreme Court orders [to relevant authorities], as it is the responsibility of some deputy registrars and assistant registrars.”

The registrar general said he will look into matter and find out whether any official or staff of the SC had any negligence in this regard.

Contacted, Attorney General Mahbubey expressed surprise saying the persons who were responsible for not communicating the SC order to the jail should be punished through conducting a probe.

Not communicating the court order to offices concerned is a punishable offence, he noted.