The death reference of the case, in which 14 militants were sentenced to death for attempting to kill Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in 2000, has reached the High Court for the examination of the trial court verdict.

Officials of the Dhaka tribunal concerned brought the documents of the case, including the judgment, to the HC yesterday afternoon, its special officer Md Saifur Rahman told The Daily Star.

He said the officials concerned of the HC received the documents.

The HC authorities will now prepare paper books for hearing on the death reference, Saifur Rahman added.

If a lower court sentences any person to death in a case, its judgment is examined by the HC through hearing arguments for confirmation of the death sentence. The case documents and judgment reach as death reference to the HC from the lower court as per the relevant provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).

A Dhaka tribunal on March 23 this year sentenced 14 members of banned militant outfit Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (Huji) to death and ordered that they be "publicly" executed by a firing squad for attempting to kill the prime minister.

The sedition case was filed against them for trying to kill Sheikh Hasina by planting a 76kg bomb in Kotalipara, Gopalganj.