The Appellate Division has stood over the bail hearing of Jagannath University student Khadijatul Kubra, who has been in prison after being arrested in two cases filed under the Digital Security Act, for four months.
The four-member appellate bench led by Chief Justice Hasan Foez Siddique passed the order on Monday.
Lawyers relevant to the cases said the bail order of Khadijatul Kubra given by the High Court (HC) would be stayed for four months as a result of the order passed by the Appellate Division on Monday.
Khadija is a second year student of the political science department at the Jagannath University. In 2020, the police lodged two separate cases against Khadija and Major (retired) Delwar Hossain with the Kalabagan and New Market police stations in Dhaka under the Digital Security Act on allegations of spreading anti-government statements and tarnishing the image of the country. The second case was filed a week after the first one, with the same allegation. Police are the plaintiffs in both cases.
Police pressed charges against Khadijatul Kubra and Delwar Hossain in May last year. The cyber tribunal of Dhaka took the charges to its cognizance and issued arrest warrants against the accused.
Later, Khadijatul Kubra was arrested by New Market police on 17 September. She has been in prison since then. Delwar has been absconding since the arrest warrant was issued.
According to the sources in the court, the trial court dismissed the accused’s bail plea twice. Later, in February this year, the High Court granted her plea for bail. However, the chamber judge stayed the bail order later following a petition from the state.
At the same time the plea from the state was sent to the regular bench of the Appellate Division for hearing. Meanwhile, Khadija appealed for the cancellation of the stay order by the Chamber Court, which was raised alongside the petition from the state for hearing in the appellate division.
Assistant attorney general M Saiful Alam stood for the state in the court, while lawyer BM Ilias stood for Khadija in the court.
Speaking to Prothom Alo after the hearing, lawyer BM Ilias said, “Khadija has been imprisoned for almost 10 months. The separate leave to appeal from the state and appeal seeking a stay on the bail order passed by the Chamber Court were raised in the Appellate Division for hearing. After hearing, the Appellate Division stood over hearing for four months. Therefore, Khadija’s bail order will stay for four months.”