Staff Reporter :
The High Court (HC) on Monday fixed today (Tuesday) for hearing the petitions filed by BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia seeking bail in two different cases.
The bench of Justice A K M Asaduzzaman and Justice J B M Hassan fixed the date after Attorney General Mahbubey Alam sought time for taking preparation for placing arguments on the petitions. The bench was scheduled to hold hearing on the bail petitions on Monday.
Khaleda Zia’s lawyers Advocate Khandker Mahbub Hossain, Advocate A J Mohammad Ali, Barrister Mahbub Uddin Khokan, Barrister A K M Ehsanur Rahman and Advocate M Masud Rana were present in the court for placing arguments.
Barrister Ehsanur Rahman said, “Three bail petitions were filed on Sunday with the High Court seeking bail in three different cases of Cumilla and Narail. Two of them were listed in the cause-list of today (Monday). But Attorney General Mahbubey Alam sought time to take preparation for placing arguments on the petitions. Then the court fixed the new date for hearing.”
“One of the three bail petitions was filed as a criminal appeal petition as one of the cases was filed under the Special Act. The High Court normally hears the criminal appeal petition on Tuesday and Wednesday of every week. So another petition may be heard on next Wednesday,” he said.
Among the three cases against Khaleda, two were filed in Cumilla. One was filed on the charge of vandalising vehicles on January 25 in 2015, and the other on the charge of killing seven persons and injuring 25-26 by setting fire to a passenger bus at Chauddagram on February 2, 2015.
The third case was filed by Raihan Faruki Imam with a Narail court on September 24, 2015, for making a statement about the number of freedom fighters and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Khaleda Zia on December 21, 2015, at a meeting in the Institution of Engineers Bangladesh (IEB) in Dhaka said that Sheikh Mujib did not want independence of the country because he wanted to be the Prime Minister of Pakistan.
