The Appellate Division of Supreme Court on Tuesday delivered a verdict saying that life imprisonment means jail sentence until the natural death of the convict.

The seven-member bench led by Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain delivered the verdict.

The court also said the life sentence can be of 30 years in some cases.

Earlier on 25 November, the bench set today for delivering verdict after hearing afresh in the review petition filed by convict Ataur Rahman in February 2017.

The review case was awaited for the verdict on 11 July last year.

On 15 October 2003, a court sentenced two accused Ataur Mridha and Anwar Hossain to death in a murder case.

Later, the accused appealed against the verdict, and the High Court upheld the ruling.

The accused again appealed to the Appellate Division against the judgment of the High Court.

On 14 February 2017, the apex court reduced the death sentence to life imprisonment and concurrently presented seven observations, including saying that life imprisonment equals imprisonment till death. Later, the accused submitted a review petition against that observation.

On 11 April last year, the court-appointed Barrister Rokanuddin Mahmud, former attorney general AF Hasan Arif, Advocate Abdur Rezak Khan, and president of the Supreme Court Bar Association AM Amin Uddin as amicus curiae to give their opinion on the tenure of life imprisonment.