Staff Reporter :
The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed the High Court order that granted bail to BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia for six months in two criminal cases filed in Cumilla.
Chamber Judge of the Appellate Division Justice Hasan Foez Siddique passed the order after hearing the appeal petitions filed by the government seeking stay on the HC order. Chamber Judge sent also the petitions to the full bench of the Appellate Division for further hearing.
Attorney General Mahbubey Alam said, the full bench will hear the petitions on Thursday. Advocate Khandker Mahbub Hossain appeared in the Chamber Court on behalf of BNP Chairperson while Attorney General Mahbubey Alam stood for the State.
On Monday, a High Court bench of Justice A K M Asaduzzaman and Justice J B M Hassan granted bail to BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia for six months in two criminal cases filed in Cumilla. But she was denied bail in another case filed at Narail from the same bench.
Meanwhile, hours after she secured the bail, the government filed separate appeals with the Supreme Court seeking a stay on the High Court’s order.
Chamber Judge of the Appellate Division Justice Hasan Foez Siddique fixed Tuesday for hearing the petitions. Finally the Chamber Judge sent the petitions to the full bench for detail hearing.
After the Chamber Court’s order, Khaleda’s lawyer Khandker Mahbub Hossain said, “The release of Begum Khaleda Zia depends on the government’s good will. But the government wants to keep her in jail and to establish ‘BAKSAL’ in Bangladesh undisturbed. They want one-party rule in the country. But I believe, their dream will not be successful.” Protesting Khandker Mahbub Hossain’s speech, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam said, “That Khaleda Zia’s release depends on the government’s good will is a contemptuous statement. We have court. The court is granting bail to Khaleda and also staying it.”
Among the three cases, two were filed in Cumilla on charges of vandalising vehicles on January 25 in 2015, killing seven persons and injuring 25-26 others by setting fire to a passenger bus in Chauddagram on February 2, 2015.
The third one was filed by one Raihan Faruki Imam with a Narail court on September 24, 2015, against Khaleda for making a statement about the number of freedom fighters and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The High Court denied bail in the case saying that “the petition was not properly moved”.
On May 20, Khaleda’s lawyer M Masud Rana filed the petitions with the consent of the BNP chief.
Earlier, on May 16, the SC upheld a HC order that granted bail to Khaleda for four months in Zia Orphanage Trust case in which she was sentenced to five years imprisonment.
But, she is still in the jail as she has been shown arrested in seven other cases including the three.
According to media reports, the BNP chairperson is now facing a total of 36 cases.
Meanwhile, the High Court bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Shahidul Karim on Tuesday fixed Thursday to pass order on two other petitions filed by BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia in two other cases filed in Dhaka, Barrister A K M Ehsanur Rahman, another lawyer of Khaleda Zia said. These two bail pleas were filed on May 22 in two other cases lodged in Dhaka in 2016 on charges of observing “fake” birthday and “demeaning” Bangladesh’s national flag.
