Staff Reporter :The High Court (HC) on Tuesday granted six months interim bail to detained Awami League lawmaker Abdul Latif Siddiqui in seven cases in connection with attacking religious sentiment of the Muslims.The bench of Justice Md Nizamul Huq and Justice Farid Ahmed Shibly passed the order after hearing separate petitions for bail.The court also issued a rule seeking an explanation from the government within four weeks time as to why Latif Siddiqui should not be given regular bail.Advocate Jyotirmoy Barua said Latif Siddiqui was shown arrested in all seven cases. Out of these, six cases were filed with CMM Court of Dhaka, while the other was registered with Narayanganj Court. “In all, he is facing 29 cases, of which he was shown arrested in 11 cases,” he said.As per Section of 188 of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), if one person commits a crime outside the country, government’s approval is a must to file cases against him, Jyotirmoy said, adding that in the case of Latif Siddiqui no government permission was taken to sue him. However, despite getting bails, Siddiqui could not be released of the prison for his links with the other cases, filed with different courts across the country. He is now under treatment at the prison cell of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Hospital.Siddiqui came under serious criticism for his remarks on Hajj and Tablig Jamaat at a discussion in New York, USA. Tangail District Association of New York organised the discussion in Jackson Heights area of the city on September 29, 2014. Regarding the Hajj, Siddiqui said it is completely useless and involves a huge amount of money. He also uttered derogatory remarks on Prophet Hazrat Mohammad (SM). “If one lakh people go to Hajj, it costs Taka 500 crore. It was only to give the Saudi people an opportunity to make money. The people of Saudi Arabia were ‘bandit’ at that time. But the introduction of Hajj has given them a permanent source of income,” he said. Siddiqui also made unpleasant comments on Sajib Wajed Joy, the son of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. As his remarks were widely published in different online news portals, television channels and newspapers, 29 cases were filed against him by different people across the country.
