SC order seeking stay on Khaleda bail Sunday

The Supreme Court fixed Sunday for delivering order on a petition of the state seeking stay on a High Court order granting six months bail to BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia in an arson case filed under the Special Powers Act in Cumilla, reports UNB.

A four-member Appellate Division bench, led by chief justice Syed Mahmud Hossain, fixed the date after the hearing on the petition.

Attorney general Mahbubey Alam stood for the state while lawyer AJ Mohammad Ali represented Khaleda.

Earlier on Monday, the High Court granted a 6-month bail to the BNP chairperson following a bail petition in the arson case.

Later, the government filed a petition seeking a stay on the HC order on the following day.

On 23 July, the HC directed the Cumilla Special Judge Court-1 to dispose of the bail petition filed by BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia in the case within 26 July.

Khaleda’s lawyer filed a bail petition with High Court as the Cumilla court rejected the bail petition of Khaleda on 25 July.

Eight people were killed and 20 others injured when miscreants hurled a petrol bomb at a bus at Jogmohanpur in Chouddagram of Cumilla district during the BNP-led alliance’s movement on 3 February 2015.

Two cases were filed against Khaleda in this connection.

On 8 February, Khaleda Zia was sent to jail after a special court sentenced her to five years’ rigorous imprisonment in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case.