HC to deliver verdict on plea seeking release of Badal Farazi

The High Court will pass an order tomorrow on a writ petition that sought its order on the government to release Badal Farazi who was recently brought back to the country from India after he languished in jail there for 10 years.

The bench of Justice JBM Hassan and Justice Md Khairul Alam fixed the date for passing the order after holding hearing on the petition today.

Read more: A decade in foreign jail

Badal Farazi, 28, a Bangladeshi youth, who was serving a life sentence in Delhi's Tihar jail after being convicted in a murder case, was brought back to the country on July 6.

Badal was brought under a bilateral treaty on “Transfer of Sentenced Prisoners” signed with India around eight years ago.

After Badal was brought back he was sent to Dhaka Central Jail to let him serve the rest of his sentence there.

Barrister Md Humayun Kabir Pallab, a Supreme Court lawyer, filed a writ petition with the HC seeking its directive on the government to release Badal from jail and to declare the government’s decision to keep him detained illegal.

He said in the writ petition that Badal Farazi is not a criminal.

The Indian court concerned has reportedly convicted and sentenced one Badal Singh, an Indian citizen, in a murder case, but the Indian law enforcers detained Badal Farazi, who is a Bangladeshi national, Barrister Humayun Kabir told The Daily Star.

BadalFarazi, who hails from Bagerhat, had been in the high-security Indian jail for the last 10 years.

Indian police had been looking for one Badal Singh accused of killing an old woman at Amar Colony in New Delhi on May 6, 2008.

When Badal Farazi was entering India on a tourist visa on July 13 in 2008, he was arrested by Indian law enforcers for similarity of his name with that of the accused in the murder case, according to a report of Bangla daily Prothom Alo on May 17 last year.

According to the report, the home ministry of Bangladesh sent a letter to Indian government for the repatriation of Badal, son of Abdul Khalek and Sarafali Begum.

Badal, who was a school student when he went to India in 2008, completed his studies and even obtained a degree during his decade-long stay in Tihar Jail.