Staff Reporter :
The High Court (HC) on Sunday adjourned the hearing till today (Monday) on a bail petition filed by BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia in an arson case filed under Special Powers Act-1974 in connection with the killing of
eight people and injuring 25-26 others by setting fire to a bus at Chouddagram of Cumilla in 2015.
The bench of Justice Md Shawkat Hossain and Justice Abu Taher Md Saifur Rahman passed the order considering the time prayer submitted by Attorney General Mahbubey Alam for placing arguments against the bail petition.
Advocate Khandker Mahbub Hossain took part in the hearing on behalf of the BNP Chairperson, while Attorney General Mahbubey Alam and Deputy Attorney General Moniruzzaman Rubel stood for the State.
Moniruzzaman Rubel said, “The High Court recently disposed two bail petitions of Khaleda Zia with some observations. The government will file leave to appeal petitions against those observations. So, we prayed for time and the court adjourned the bail hearing till Monday.”
Police filed the case under Special Powers Act-1974 with Chouddagram Police Station on February 3, 2015 after the incident took place on the previous day.
Khaleda Zia’s lawyer Khandker Mahbub Hossain said, “We are angry and ashamed because the court adjourned the hearing as the Attorney General will go to the Appellate Division. That means, without the consent of the Attorney General, it seems that the apex court of the country is not giving any order.”
“The High Court granted time to the AG as he wanted it. If the AG seeks time again, the court will grant it again. It may happen that Khaleda Zia will get bail when the AG will want. We have to wait for that,” Khandker Mahbub also said.
The lawyer said, “I personally think that we cannot trust the judicial system of the country’s highest court. How long can the lawyers trust the Supreme Court in such a situation! People will reject it and take the law into their own hands, we are waiting for that day.”
After the court order, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam said, “BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has not suffered any mild stroke in the prison and she did not become senseless.”
“Khaleda Zia became weak as her blood sugar level fell,” he told reporters in a press briefing at his office quoting the Inspector General (IG) of Prisons.
After meeting with Khaleda Zia at the Old Central Jail on Nazimuddin Road in Dhaka on Saturday, her personal physicians told reporters that she might have suffered a mild stroke in jail on June 5.
“Khaleda Zia suddenly fell on the floor on June 5. She could not recall how it happened. It seems she suffered a mild stroke,” Professor of Medicine S M Siddique, who was among the four-member team of doctors, told reporters on Saturday.
The High Court (HC) on Sunday adjourned the hearing till today (Monday) on a bail petition filed by BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia in an arson case filed under Special Powers Act-1974 in connection with the killing of
eight people and injuring 25-26 others by setting fire to a bus at Chouddagram of Cumilla in 2015.
The bench of Justice Md Shawkat Hossain and Justice Abu Taher Md Saifur Rahman passed the order considering the time prayer submitted by Attorney General Mahbubey Alam for placing arguments against the bail petition.
Advocate Khandker Mahbub Hossain took part in the hearing on behalf of the BNP Chairperson, while Attorney General Mahbubey Alam and Deputy Attorney General Moniruzzaman Rubel stood for the State.
Moniruzzaman Rubel said, “The High Court recently disposed two bail petitions of Khaleda Zia with some observations. The government will file leave to appeal petitions against those observations. So, we prayed for time and the court adjourned the bail hearing till Monday.”
Police filed the case under Special Powers Act-1974 with Chouddagram Police Station on February 3, 2015 after the incident took place on the previous day.
Khaleda Zia’s lawyer Khandker Mahbub Hossain said, “We are angry and ashamed because the court adjourned the hearing as the Attorney General will go to the Appellate Division. That means, without the consent of the Attorney General, it seems that the apex court of the country is not giving any order.”
“The High Court granted time to the AG as he wanted it. If the AG seeks time again, the court will grant it again. It may happen that Khaleda Zia will get bail when the AG will want. We have to wait for that,” Khandker Mahbub also said.
The lawyer said, “I personally think that we cannot trust the judicial system of the country’s highest court. How long can the lawyers trust the Supreme Court in such a situation! People will reject it and take the law into their own hands, we are waiting for that day.”
After the court order, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam said, “BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has not suffered any mild stroke in the prison and she did not become senseless.”
“Khaleda Zia became weak as her blood sugar level fell,” he told reporters in a press briefing at his office quoting the Inspector General (IG) of Prisons.
After meeting with Khaleda Zia at the Old Central Jail on Nazimuddin Road in Dhaka on Saturday, her personal physicians told reporters that she might have suffered a mild stroke in jail on June 5.
“Khaleda Zia suddenly fell on the floor on June 5. She could not recall how it happened. It seems she suffered a mild stroke,” Professor of Medicine S M Siddique, who was among the four-member team of doctors, told reporters on Saturday.
