The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court yesterday stayed till November 27 a High Court order that granted bail to Nagorik Oikya convener Mahmudur Rahman Manna in a case filed on charge of instigating the army to topple the government. A three-member-bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha passed the order following a petition filed by the government seeking a stay on the High Court verdict.
The matter will come up in the daily cause list of the apex court for hearing, concerned lawyers said. Earlier, the High Court on November 11 granted bail to Manna in the case. The government then filed the petition with the apex court seeking a stay on the High Court verdict. On 30 August, the HC granted bail to Manna in a sedition case filed against him with Gulshan police station in the city. The two cases were filed with Gulshan police station on 24 February and 5 March last year on charges of provoking the army and sedition. Manna was arrested on 24 February last year after two audio clips of his telephone conversations with BNP leader Sadeque Hossain Khoka and another unidentified man were leaked.