ABM Sharfuddin Khan Mukul on behalf of accused Taheruddin Thakur filed the petitions with Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court, appealing for adjournment of the verdict.

Syed Nazrul Islam, acting president of Bangladesh government in exile, Tajuddin Ahmed, prime minister, M Mansur Ali, finance minister, and AHM Qamaruzzaman, minister of home affairs, relief and rehabilitation, during the Liberation War were killed inside Dhaka Central Jail on November 3, 1975.

The lawyer appealed to court to ask the then deputy superintendent of police Saifuddin Ahmed, the second investigation officer, to appear in court. He also appealed to court to visit Bangabhaban, the scene of conspiracy to kill the four leaders.

The prosecution and some defence lawyers strongly opposed the petitions terming them as an excuse for delaying the verdict on the historic Jail Killing Case, which was scheduled for yesterday 29 years into the killing -- in a delay blamed on interventions by governments and legal tangles.

Mahbubur Rahman, counsel of another accused Bazlul Huda, said the petitions would delay the verdict -- a view echoed by KM Obaidur Rahman's defence lawyer Abdul Majid Munshi.

Talking to The Daily Star, former chief special public prosecutor Anisul Haque said the court should have instantly rejected the petitions. "If time is granted on the basis of an application, it will be unprecedented, but if the court feels it needs more time to deliver the judgement, then I have nothing to say," Anisul added.

Mohmmad Sirajul Islam, acting judge of the Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court, fixed September 21 for hearing on the petitions and the judgement of the Jail Killing Case.

The first petition says the then DSP, tasked with investigation on November 21, 1975, probed the case for a few days and the mystery surrounding the incident will be unravelled if he appears in court.

The second petition says Taheruddin was accused of conspiring at Bangabhaban in line with the chargesheet and statements of prosecution witnesses, but no sketch of Bangabhaban was placed before court, nor any paper has been forwarded as being seized from there. "A local inspection is necessary for arriving at correct decisions while delivering the judgement," the petition says.

JUDICIAL TANGLES
If the petitions are dismissed, the petitioner will have scope to go to higher court against the order. If a petition is filed with the High Court, it will fix the date of hearing on it. In the event of rejection, the petitioner will have another scope to go to the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court.

If the Appellate Division rejects the appeal, the petitioner will have another chance to appeal for review of the petitions.

On the other hand, if the Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court grants the petitions, the judge will carry out a local inspection at Bangabhaban where the conspirators laid out the dark design to kill the national leaders. The judge may need several days for inspection.

In case the second petition is granted, the court will ask Saifuddin to appear in court to give his statement and a separate date will be fixed. If the then DSP appears in court, the prosecution and the defence will examine his statement taking several days more.

CASE CHRONOLOGY
The four national leaders were assassinated inside Dhaka Central Jail on November 3, 1975. The next day, a case was filed with Lalbagh Police Station. The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) was tasked with investigation on November 21, 1975, but it was halted until 1996. It reopened on August 18, 1996 and charges were pressed against 21 people on October 15, 1998.

The trial that began on April 12, 2001 was halted for 10 months after Syeda Zohra Tajuddin, wife of slain prime minister and one of the high-profile victims Tajuddin Ahmed, filed a petition on January 26 last year seeking trial in the High Court.

The court rejected the petition on August 25 the same year. The arguments were complete on August 7 this year and the court on August 21 fixed September 7 for the delivery of the judgement.