The High Court has ordered the removal of the judicial powers of Mamunur Rashid, the then judge of the Feni Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal, for arbitrarily sentencing all the accused to death in the widely discussed Nusrat murder case.
A High Court bench comprising Justice Bhishmadev Chakraborty and Justice KM Rasheduzzaman Raja delivered the verdict on Monday.
In its judgment, the court said the trial court's decision to hand down death sentences to all the accused in such a manner had a devastating impact on their families.
The court ordered that Mamunur Rashid be stripped of his judicial powers and attached to the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs.
The High Court upheld the death sentences of two accused after hearing the death reference, appeals and jail appeals in the case.
The two are Siraj Ud Doula, the then principal of Sonagazi Islamia Fazil (Degree) Madrasa, and Shahadat Hossain Shamim.
Four accused were sentenced to life imprisonment: Umme Sultana Popi, Mohammad Nuruddin, Shahadat Hossain Javed and Iftekhar Hossain Rana.
The 10 accused who were acquitted are Mohammad Shamim, Ruhul Amin, Afsar Uddin, Moksud Al councilor, Hafez Abdul Kader, Abdur Rahim Sharif, Imran Hossain Mamun, Mohiuddin Shakil, Kamrun Nahar Moni and another accused.
Senior lawyers Mansurul Haque Chowdhury, SM Shahjahan, Tajul Islam, Barrister SM Masud Hossain Dolan, Mohammad Shishir, Abdul Momin, Adnan Yazdani and Barrister Al Mamun represented the accused.
Attorney General Barrister Ruhul Quddus Kazal and Deputy Attorney General Syed Ejaz Kabir represented the state.