The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted bail for three months to senior journalist Shafik Rehman in a case filed over an alleged plot to abduct and kill Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s son Sajeeb Wazed Joy in the USA.
The apex court also asked Shafik to deposit both his British and Bangladesh passports to it.
A five-member bench of the Appellate Division, headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha, granted Shafik the bail for three months or until charge sheet in the case is submitted. The bench passed the order following a leave-to-appeal petition filed by Shafik challenging an HC order that turned down his bail plea in the case.
Shafik’s lawyer Barrister Ragib Rauf Chowdhury said now there is no legal bar to his release.
AJ Mohammad Ali and Barrister Ragib Rauf Chowdhury stood for Shafik Rehman while Attorney General Mahbubey Alam represented the state. Earlier on July 17, SC granted Shafik Rehman’s prayer to file an appeal before the court against the HC order.
On June 7, the High Court rejected the bail plea of Shafik Rehman, now in jail, in the case. An HC bench comprising Justice AKM Asaduzzaman and Justice Md Ataur Rahman Khan passed the order after hearing a petition filed by Shafik’ s counsels seeking bail for him.
On May 25, Shafik Rehman filed the petition before the HC, seeking bail in the case. On April 27, a Dhaka court sent the journalist to jail on completion of his second remand in the case.
Later, he was put on a five-day remand twice after his arrest. On 16 April, detectives arrested Shafik Rehman, former editor of the Bangla daily Jaijaidin, from his Eskaton Garden residence in the city.
The senior journalist in his early 80s was shown arrested in a criminal conspiracy case filed with Paltan Police Station on August 3, 2015 in connection with the attempt to abduct and kill Joy.
