War criminals too can file review petitions: SC

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has ruled that both the prosecution and the condemned war criminals may enjoy the right to file review petitions against its verdict within the 15 days of receiving its certified copy. It, however, said the review petition should be disposed of on priority basis. The apex court came up with the observations while releasing its judgment in its website on Tuesday that dismissed two review petitions as it found no merit in the pleas filed by Jamaat-e-Islami leader Abdul Quader Mollah. ‘The review petitions are maintainable. A review petition should not be equated with an appeal. In criminal matters, the power of review must be limited to an error which has a material, real ground on the face of the case,’ observed the SC. On September 17 last year, the Appellate Division sentenced Abdul Quader Mollah to death for his crimes against humanity during Bangladesh’s independence struggles in 1971 allowing the appeal filed by the prosecution against the February 5, 2013 International Crimes Tribunal-2 verdict that had handed down life term imprisonment. The condemned convict was executed on December 12 last year after the SC had summarily dismissed his review petitions. If any review or mercy petition is filed or pending, the apex court observed that the sentence cannot be executed unless the petitions are disposed of. ‘So, the period of seven days or 21 days mentioned in sub-rules (I) and (VI) of rule 991 of the Jail Code have no force of law under the changed conditions,’ according to a news agency.