The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed the review petitions of three convicts--two death-row and one life term--in RU Professor S Taher Ahmed murder case.

Now, there is no bar to execute the death sentence of Mohiuddin, the then Rajshahi University teacher, and Jahangir, the then caretaker of Prof Taher's residence. They will only get the chance to seek presidential mercy.

An eight-member SC bench, led by Chief justice Hasan Foez Siddique, passed the order today in presence of slain Prof Taher's wife Sultana Ahmed and daughter lawyer Shegufta Tabassum Ahmed.

The lifers in the case are Nazmul Alam and Abdus Salam, relatives of caretaker Jahangir Alam.

The body of Prof Taher, 59, was recovered from a drain near his residence, two days after he went missing on February 1, 2006.

On February 3, a murder case was filed at Motihar Police Station in Rajshahi, following a complaint lodged by his son Sanzid.

A Rajshahi Speedy Trial Tribunal on May 22, 2008, sentenced four people to death and acquitted two others, including former RU Chhatra Shibir president Mahbubul Alam Salehi.

The High Court upheld the death penalty of Mohiuddin and Jahangir, but sentenced Salam and Nazmul to imprisonment until death on May 13, 2013. After the order, Mohiuddin, Jahangir and Salam moved the apex court.