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The Appellate Division has concluded the hearing on appeals in the murder case of former Awami League lawmaker Ahsan Ullah Master, with the court set to deliver its verdict on a later date.
A four-member Appellate Division bench led by the chief justice concluded the hearing on Monday and kept the appeals pending for judgment.
Senior lawyers SM Shahjahan and Shishir Monir represented the accused, while Additional Attorney General Muhammad Abdul Jabbar Bhuiyan appeared for the state.
Ahsan Ullah Master, a freedom fighter, teacher and labour leader, was elected MP from Gazipur-2 in 1996 and 2001.
He was shot dead in public on May 7, 2004, while attending a rally at the grounds of MA Majid Mia High School in Noagaon, Gazipur.
A speedy trial tribunal handed down its verdict in the murder case on April 16, 2005, sentencing 22 accused, including BNP leader Nurul Islam Sarker, to death and six others to life imprisonment.Two of the death-row convicts later died.
Following the trial court verdict, death references and jail appeals were sent to the High Court in 2005. The accused also appealed against their convictions.
On June 15, 2016, a High Court bench comprising Justice Obaidul Hassan and Justice Krishna Debnath upheld the death sentences of six accused and life imprisonment for two others.
The High Court commuted the death sentences of seven accused to life imprisonment and acquitted 11 others.
The six whose death sentences were upheld were Nurul Islam Sarker, Nurul Islam Dipu, Mahbubur Rahman Mahbub, Shahidul Islam Shipu, Hafiz alias Kana Hafiz and Sohag alias Shoru. Shahidul Islam Shipu later died at Kashimpur Jail.
Life imprisonment was upheld for Tipu and Nurul Amin.
The seven whose death sentences were commuted to life imprisonment were Md Ali, Syed Ahmed Hossain Majnu, Anwar Hossain alias Anu, Ratan Mia alias Bara Mia Ratan, Jahangir alias Chhoto Jahangir, Abu Salam alias Salam and Mashiur Rahman alias Monu.
The High Court also acquitted Amir Hossain, Jahangir alias Bara Jahangir, Faisal, Rony Mia alias Rony Fakir, Khokon, Lokman and Dulal Mia, who had been sentenced to death.
Four others—Monir, Rakib Uddin Sarker alias Pappu, Ayub Ali and Jahangir—were acquitted of life sentences.
The convicted accused later appealed to the Appellate Division, leading to the latest hearing.