A specialised High Court (HC) bench constituted by the Chief Justice to expedite the disposal of cases under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act has begun its proceedings.
The bench, comprising Justice Bhishmadev Chakrabortty and Justice KM Rasheduzzaman Raja, started hearing cases on Sunday, Attorney General Md Ruhul Quddus Kazal said.
Speaking to reporters after the court session, Ruhul Quddus Kazal said the Chief Justice had formed the special bench to hear death references and appeals arising from convictions under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act.
“Today was the first working day of the bench. Twenty cases were listed for hearing, including the much-publicised rape and murder case of eight-year-old Magura girl, which appeared as the 20th case on the cause list,” he said.
The Attorney General said he informed the court that the state was fully prepared to proceed with hearings in all cases and that his office would not seek adjournments in any of them.
Referring to the Magura girl case, Kazal said he requested that it be heard on a priority basis. However, the court observed that several cases listed ahead of it date back to 2019 and involve convicts who have remained on death row for years.
“I told the court that while those cases deserve consideration, the Magura girl murder case should also be taken up on a priority basis if there is any scope to do so,” he added.
The bench’s cause list for Sunday included 20 cases filed under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act, among them the widely discussed Magura girl rape and murder case and the murder case of Feni madrasa student.
The Chief Justice constituted the special bench on June 10 following requests from the Attorney General’s Office and members of the legal profession. The bench has been tasked with giving priority to cases involving violence against women and children.
Subsequently, the attorney general formed a special prosecution team, led by himself, to handle the hearings of such cases, including the Pallabi minor girl murder case.
He said the team would pursue the proceedings without interruption to help ensure the speedy disposal of death reference cases pending before the High Court.