Calcutta, July 5 :    Calcutta, July 5:  A dark, dingy six-ft-by-four-ft cell of Alipore Central jail, with a dust-coated 60W bulb burning constantly, has been his space, since December 1999. It's the last address of a man sentenced to death. And there seems to be no way out for Sheikh Naushad. His appeal has been pending before the high court since January 2001 - just for want of a 'paper book', the compilation of the case history, comprising everything from the FIR to the trial court judgment. This, despite a clear Supreme Court ruling that an appeal in a death case must be heard within three months. 'My innocent client will die in the condemned cell if there is any further delay in hearing the appeal,' laments his lawyer, Subroto Mookherjee. 'And the tragedy is that there are so many others like Naushad who are suffering for the delay by the paper book department. Judges often try to speed up the case, but the paper book slows it down.' Burdwan police arrested Sheikh Naushad for allegedly murdering an officer of Gramin Bank on August 4, 1996. The additional district sessions judge of Burdwan sentenced him to death in December 1999. Naushad, a motor mechanic in Burdwan, filed an appeal in Calcutta High Court, challenging the order of the trial court. Mookherjee, on behalf of Naushad, has moved different benches of the high court for the past year. On several occasions, the judges asked for the paper book in order to hear the appeal. 'But the paper book is not ready yet and the appeal is still pending. And my client is rotting in jail,' says Mookherjee. According to the prosecution, the Gramin Bank officer used to borrow money from his own bank and lend it to the poor at a higher rate of interest. Naushad borrowed Rs 25,000 from the officer at 25 per cent interest per annum. 'My client had returned the principal amount in time, but as he failed to pay the interest, the officer started hounding him almost every day. Out of frustration, Naushad once told the officer he would kill him if he came to his house again,' explained Mookherjee. A couple of days later, the officer was found dead on the streets. The police then arrested Naushad. 'My client had no connection with the murder,' states Mookherjee.