cumilla vandalism case
SC upholds bail order for Khaleda
STAFF REPORTER
The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court (SC) yesterday upheld a High Court (HC) order that granted six months bail to BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia in a vandalism case filed in Cumilla. The case was filed in connection with the vandalisation of vehicles in Cumillas Chouddagram area on January 25, 2015. The apex court also vacated its chamber judges order that stayed the HC order of bail to Khaleda in the case.
The three-member bench of the Appellate Division, headed by Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain, passed the order after concluding the hearing on the leave-to-appeal petition filed by the government against the HC order. However, the BNP chief could not walk out from jail following the apex court order as she is arrested in other cases, lawyers opined.
Attorney general Mahbubey Alam argued against the HC order, while advocates Mohammad Ali, Khandker Mahbub Hossain, Moudud Ahmed, Zainul Abedin and Mahbub Uddin Khokan represented Khaleda Zia.
On May 28, the HC bench, comprising Justice AKM Asaduzzaman and Justice JBM Hassan, granted six months bail to Khaleda Zia in a case filed over vandalism in Chouddagram, Cumilla, in January 2015 and in another case filed over the killing of eight people and rendering injuries to 2526 others by setting a passenger bus ablaze in Chouddagram on February 2, 2015.
BNP chief Khaleda Zia is in jail since February 8 after the special judges court-5 of Dhaka sentenced her to five years rigorous imprisonment in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case.
On March 13, the High Court (HC) had granted her bail for four months in the case. On May 16, the Appellate Division of the SC upheld the HC order.
However, the BNP chief was not released from jail as she was shown arrested in some other cases filed with different police stations in Cumilla, Dhaka, Narail and Panchagarh, including the three in which she has already sought bail. The BNP chairperson is currently facing a total of 36 cases.
