A total of 20,938 people, including 287 children who were accused of crimes secured bail from the lower courts across the country in the last 10 working days.
Of the 20,938, a total of 1,477 accused secured bails across the country on Thursday, said a statement sent by Md Saifur Rahman, a Special Officer of the High Court division of the Supreme Court.
More than 300 courts have granted bail to the accused after holding virtual hearing of the petitions filed seeking bail in the cases against them, said Md Saifur Rahman.
He said the subordinate courts have disposed of a total of 33,287 bail petitions filed by the accused. On Thursday, the last working day, the courts have disposed of a total of 3,082 bail petitions, Saifur Rahman added.
He said most of the accused people who were granted bail have already been released from jail.
He said the Supreme Court Special Committee for Child Rights had taken necessary measures in association with
UNICEF and the Social Welfare Ministry to release the children who were granted bail from the Shishu Unnayan Kendra (Children Development Centre), and helped them reach their guardians.
More than 200 children have already been released from the Shishu Unnayan Kendra and were transported by microbuses to their guardians.
Justice Muhammad Imman Ali, a senior judge of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court and chairman of the Supreme Court Special Committee for Child Rights, has been monitoring all issues regarding filing of bail petitions for the detained children and their releases, Saifur Rahman added.
The Supreme Court spokesman, however, could not specifically say the types of criminal cases in which the 20,938 people were accused.
The virtual courts’ functions started on May 11 after a gap of 46 days in order to deal with urgent cases.
The regular activities of courts across the country, including Appellate and High Court Divisions of the Supreme Court, remained shut since March 26 due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. The nationwide shutdown is scheduled to continue till May 30.
On May 10, Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain issued directives for the courts in dealing with urgent cases through using information and communication technology during the shutdown.
