bdnews24.com :
A fiery argument between the pro-BNP lawyers and Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain at the Supreme Court has been capped off by the Supreme Court blocking Khaleda Zia’s bail.
The BNP chief had secured the bail from the High Court after her conviction of corruption in Zia Orphanage Trust case by a trial court. The four-strong Appellate Division bench headed by Chief Justice Hossain on Wednesday froze until Sunday the four-month interim bail. The latest order by the apex court means the State and the
Anti-Corruption Commission ACC will be able to file regular appeals seeking permission to challenge the High Court’s bail order. Lawyers for Khaleda, irked by the stay order, say it has ‘undermined the image’ of the Supreme Court. The lawyers for the BNP chief, however, did not get orders in their favour when they moved a Comilla court against a previous order showing her arrested in a case of violence during protests in 2015. It means Khaleda has to remain in jail even if the Supreme Court upholds the High Court’s bail order and until the Comilla court gives an order in her favour. The former prime minister has been serving a five-year prison sentence in the old Dhaka Central Jail on Nazimuddin Road since Feb 8 when a Dhaka court convicted her of misusing international donations meant for an orphanage. After the High Court granted her bail on Monday, the State and the ACC moved the chamber judge, Justice Hasan Foez Siddique on Tuesday, seeking a stay on the bail order.
The chamber judge, however, forwarded the case for hearing to the full bench of the Appellate Division without blocking it. When ACC lawyer Khurshid Alam started his arguments on Wednesday, Chief Justice Hossain asked him to bring first the civil petition (CP) for leave to appeal, or a petition seeking permission to challenge any order. “The civil petition hasn’t arrived yet. We’ll see the matter when it comes,” Justice Hossain said. He then asked Khurshid whether they got a copy of the chamber judge’s order. The ACC lawyer said they did not get the copy on Tuesday as the office hours ended at 5pm. He said they would submit the CP after getting a copy of the order. “That’s why we’ve sought a stay until Sunday or Monday,” he said. “File the CP first. It’s stayed until then,” the chief justice said at this point. Then, two of Khaleda’s lawyers – former attorney general AJ Mohammad Ali and Supreme Court Bar Association President Zainal Abedin – stood up. “Won’t you like to hear from us? Have you issued a stay order without hearing us?” Abedin asked the chief justice. The chief justice replied, “It has been stayed until Sunday. We will hear (from you) on that day.” Abedin said, “You’ve issued the order without hearing from us. We have something to say.”
A fiery argument between the pro-BNP lawyers and Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain at the Supreme Court has been capped off by the Supreme Court blocking Khaleda Zia’s bail.
The BNP chief had secured the bail from the High Court after her conviction of corruption in Zia Orphanage Trust case by a trial court. The four-strong Appellate Division bench headed by Chief Justice Hossain on Wednesday froze until Sunday the four-month interim bail. The latest order by the apex court means the State and the
Anti-Corruption Commission ACC will be able to file regular appeals seeking permission to challenge the High Court’s bail order. Lawyers for Khaleda, irked by the stay order, say it has ‘undermined the image’ of the Supreme Court. The lawyers for the BNP chief, however, did not get orders in their favour when they moved a Comilla court against a previous order showing her arrested in a case of violence during protests in 2015. It means Khaleda has to remain in jail even if the Supreme Court upholds the High Court’s bail order and until the Comilla court gives an order in her favour. The former prime minister has been serving a five-year prison sentence in the old Dhaka Central Jail on Nazimuddin Road since Feb 8 when a Dhaka court convicted her of misusing international donations meant for an orphanage. After the High Court granted her bail on Monday, the State and the ACC moved the chamber judge, Justice Hasan Foez Siddique on Tuesday, seeking a stay on the bail order.
The chamber judge, however, forwarded the case for hearing to the full bench of the Appellate Division without blocking it. When ACC lawyer Khurshid Alam started his arguments on Wednesday, Chief Justice Hossain asked him to bring first the civil petition (CP) for leave to appeal, or a petition seeking permission to challenge any order. “The civil petition hasn’t arrived yet. We’ll see the matter when it comes,” Justice Hossain said. He then asked Khurshid whether they got a copy of the chamber judge’s order. The ACC lawyer said they did not get the copy on Tuesday as the office hours ended at 5pm. He said they would submit the CP after getting a copy of the order. “That’s why we’ve sought a stay until Sunday or Monday,” he said. “File the CP first. It’s stayed until then,” the chief justice said at this point. Then, two of Khaleda’s lawyers – former attorney general AJ Mohammad Ali and Supreme Court Bar Association President Zainal Abedin – stood up. “Won’t you like to hear from us? Have you issued a stay order without hearing us?” Abedin asked the chief justice. The chief justice replied, “It has been stayed until Sunday. We will hear (from you) on that day.” Abedin said, “You’ve issued the order without hearing from us. We have something to say.”
