Rifat murder
HC order on Minni bail plea today
Staff Reporter, Dhaka
The High Court (HC) will deliver its order on a bail petition filed by Aysha Siddika Minni in connection with a case filed over the murder of her husband, Rifat Sharif, at 2pm today (Thursday). After concluding hearing on the petition in a jam-packed courtroom, an HC bench, comprising Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Md Mostafizur Rahman, fixed the date for delivering its order.
During hearing, advocate ZI Khan Panna, counsel for the petitioner, told the court that his client is a 19-year old girl. A 19-year old girl can get bail even after her involvement in the case considering her age, he added. Panna prayed to the HC to grant her conditional bail, if needed. She will not leave the country and will not interrupt the investigation of the case if she is granted bail, the senior lawyer added. Opposing his submission, deputy attorney general Sarowar Hossain Bappi told the court that Minni had spoken to Nayan Bond, the main accused in the case, over mobile phone on several occasions before and after the killing of Rifat.
She is the conspirator of the killing. She was involved in the planning of killing Rifat. This is a very sensitive case. The case is under investigation and therefore she should not be granted bail at this stage, the state lawyer noted. Later, ZI Khan Panna told the court that Minni should be granted bail as she has been in jail since long.
Regarding the telephonic conversation between Nayan Bond and Minni, the senior lawyer said that a sub-inspector of police, Asaduzzaman, had also spoken to Nayan Bond 77 times before the killing. But the police did not arrest or interrogate SI Asaduzzaman at any time till date, he said.
Taking part in the hearing, senior advocate Monsurul Hoque Chowdhury, as an Amicus Curie (friend of court), placed his expert opinion before the court.
He said Minni may be granted bail as she will not leave the country and she is a 19-year-old girl. Fact of the case should not be considered here as she has lost her husband. There is no relation between bail and the investigation of a case, the senior lawyer said.
Earlier, the investigating officer (IO) of the case, SI Humayun Kabir, placed case documents before the court as per its previous order.
In response to a query, Kabir told the court that the investigation of the case is nearing completion and the charge-sheet would be submitted very soon. The HC bench had on August 20 issued a rule asking the government to explain within a week why Aysha Siddika Minni should not be granted bail in the case.
The court also summoned the investigation officer to appear before it, along with case documents, on August 28.
It also asked the Superintendent of Police (SP) of Barguna to explain within a week why he held a press conference on July 18, saying that Minni was involved in the killing of Rifat even before the investigation was completed, and even before recording her confessional statement.
The SP gave his explanation before the HC bench yesterday through the Attorney Generals office. But the contents of his explanation were not disclosed by anyone or the court.
A Barguna court had rejected Minnis bail petition twice, on July 22 and 30. Minni then moved the HC for bail.
The police arrested Minni on July 16 after a day-long interrogation and produced her in the court for remand the following day. No lawyer represented Minni during the remand hearing in the court.
Rifat Sharif, a 25-year-old Internet service provider, was hacked by a group of youths. In a video footage of the incident that went viral in the social media, Minni was seen screaming and trying in vain to save her husband from the assailants. The victims father filed a murder case with Barguna Sadar police station against 12 people on the same day.
