The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has fixed March 8 for delivering its verdict in the appeal case of condemned war criminal Mir Quasem Ali.
A five-member panel headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha fixed the date on Wednesday afternoon.
Earlier, the apex court set March 2 for delivering the verdict. Within a short period of time, the bench rescheduled the hearing to March 8.
Additional Registrar Md Sabbir Foyez told the Dhaka Tribune: "The date has been changed from March 2 to March 8 due to unavoidable circumstances."
Top Jamaat-e-Islami financier Quasem, now 64, was awarded capital punishment by the tribunal on November 3, 2014. As many as 24 prosecution witnesses testified against Quasem.
The tribunal handed down the death penalty on two charges – for killing seven people, including teenage freedom fighter Jasimuddin, after abduction. He was also awarded a total of 72-year imprisonment on the eight other proven charges of abduction, conspiracy and planning.
The Appellate Division started hearing on his appeal on February 9. It is the seventh appeals case heard by the top court.
Quasem joined Islami Chhatra Sangha, then student wing of Jamaat, in 1967 while studying at Chittagong Collegiate School. He later became its Chittagong city unit general secretary. He played an important role in forming al-Badr Bahini.
He had set up makeshift torture camps at different places in the port city. According to the government, Quasem has also spent a large amount of money abroad to make the war crimes trials controversial.