The top court has granted bail to BNP leader Mir Md Nasir Uddin, who was in prison on corruption charges, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
A four-member virtual bench led by Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain issued the order on Sunday.
“The bail is being granted in consideration of the coronavirus situation,” Justice Hossain said.
Lawyer Ruhul Quddus argued for former Chittagong BNP president Nasir, while lawyer Md Khurshid Alam Khan represented the Anti-Corruption Commission in court.
During the emergency rule in 2007, Nasir was sentenced to 13 years in jail for possession of illegal wealth and concealment of wealth information in a case filed by the ACC. His son Mir Helal was jailed for three years for abetting him.
The High Court acquitted the two in 2010. Four years later, the Appellate Division overturned the acquittals and instructed the High Court to rehear the issue. The High Court then restored the trial court’s sentencing against the two.
In October 2019, a virtual bench led by the chief justice turned down their appeals seeking to challenge the High Court verdict without surrendering which they were advised to.
Nasir then surrendered to the Dhaka-2 Special Judge’s Court in the following month and was subsequently sent to jail.
His son Helal, on the other hand, was also sent to prison in October 2019 after his surrender to the court.
Helal then sought permission to appeal the verdict again and sought bail. In November, Justice Md Nuruzzaman, the chamber Judge, granted him bail until May 31, 2021 after a hearing and reserved that day for hearing the “leave to appeal”.
Source: bdnews24.com
