The High Court (HC) yesterday rejected a bail petition filed by Awami League President Sheikh Hasina in an extortion case filed by businessman Noor Ali.
A vacation bench of the HC comprising Justice Sheikh Rezowan Ali and Justice Md Rais Uddin rejected the bail prayer on grounds that the petitioner must be present in the country for seeking bail, but she has been abroad on parole for treatment.
Meanwhile, talking to The Daily Star last evening, Additional Attorney General Mansur Habib in a surprising comment said, “The High Court’s refusal to grant bail to Sheikh Hasina might have a negative impact on the current political situation, since the government has been trying to bring her and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia together for a dialogue.”
But earlier in the day the same additional attorney general represented the government in opposing the bail prayer saying, Hasina must be in the country for seeking bail in any case.
The former premier’s counsel Barrister Rafique-ul Huq said, “The petition for bail was filed in favour of Sheikh Hasina on medical grounds, but the court did not grant her bail. The High Court has every right to grant or reject any bail petition in any case. We will file an appeal with the Supreme Court, which will then take the decision.”
Hasina’s another counsel Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh also submitted two separate petitions to an HC bench of Justice Mohammad Anwarul Haque and Justice Zubayer Rahaman Chowdhury yesterday seeking bail for her in the Niko graft case and the barge-mounted power plant graft case, both filed by the Anti-corruption Commission (ACC).
The matters might come up on today’s cause list of the HC bench for scheduling of hearings, he said.
The HC bench of Justice Sheikh Rezowan Ali and Justice Md Rais Uddin in its refusal to grant bail to Hasina, observed that the petitioner may seek bail after returning to the country and then the court will consider the petition.
It said the petition of Hasina argued that she should be granted bail for organising her party to contest in the general election, a line of reasoning which could not be considered in light of the law.
Reviewing a Supreme Court (SC) reference presented by the petitioner’s counsels, the HC observed that the Appellate Division granted bail to Tarique Rahman and Sigma Huda on medical grounds since they were in custody, not on parole like Hasina.
The HC also said the Appellate Division guidelines in Moyezuddin Sikder case, that a court may grant bail in cases filed with mala fide intentions, is not applicable in the case against Sheikh Hasina at this stage.
Opposing Hasina’s prayer for bail Mansur said her petition should not be entertained since she sought the bail for participating in the next general election.
He also argued she was released on parole on grounds of ill health on the basis of a medical report prepared in June this year, and an updated medical report must be scrutinised before considering her bail prayer.
Defence counsel Rafique-ul Huq argued that an HC bench recently granted bail to Hasina on medical grounds in an extortion case filed by businessman Azam J Chowdhury, although she was abroad at the time.
Her bail bond was submitted to the court through her lawyers and the court accepted it, added Rafique.
Rafique also argued that there is no legal bar on granting Hasina bail in the case on medical grounds, adding that the bail is needed for her to take part in politics and to participate in the next general election.
She cannot take part in politics if she is on parole, he said.
At one stage of the hearing, the court said there is no room in the law for entertaining bail petitions on political considerations.
On June 13 last year, Noor Ali, managing director of Unique Group of Companies, filed the case with Tejgaon police station, accusing Hasina and her two relatives of extorting Tk 5 crore from him for mediating a power plant deal between the Power Development Board and his firm in 1997.
The government on July 16 last year brought the case under the Emergency Power Rules (EPR) and a magistrate’s court ordered on July 29 that Hasina be shown arrested in the case.
Categories: Bangla, Bangladesh, Bangladesh News
