WE are surprised by the turn of events on Tuesday at Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge Court when the delivery of verdict on the historic Jail Killing Case was suddenly postponed by a fortnight. It was a news we, like the rest of the nation, were least expecting since the verdict was long overdue. The whole nation was waiting with bated breath to find out what the judgment would be for those accused of masterminding the highly condemnable and brutal murder of the four national leaders inside the jail 29 years ago. That is why the sudden shift of the date turned out to be even more disappointing.

Inability of a judge to turn up on the day of delivery of the judgement for reasons of illness is, if not unprecedented, extremely rare, especially for a sensitive and high profile case like this. If the verdict was to be delayed, why wait till the last minute? According to some newspaper reports, the judge was feeling indisposed since the night before that kept him from taking his place in the court.

While there is probably nothing dubious about the whole matter, but given the uncertain and unexpected circumstances that we have been passing through, even the most normal of things look abnormal. And that is the tragedy of the moment.

Also, taking the gravity and significance of the case into account, shifting of the date of delivering the judgement may easily generate speculations. We are very concerned at the unexpected turn of events. We hope the authorities would be able to quell all kinds of suspicions in the public mind there might be.

We hope for the judge's quick recovery, but is there no alternative mechanism that could prevent delivery of the judgement from further delay in the future? What if the judge fails to recover or falls sick again before 21 September, the next date announced to deliver the verdict? As the saying goes "Justice delayed is justice denied." A verdict delayed is in actual sense dispensation of justice denied. Let us hope we do not have a repetition of it.