Menon, Manik and Inu granted bail in defamation case

The court has granted bail to former social welfare minister Rashed Khan Menon, former Supreme Court justice AHM. Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik, and former information minister Hasanul Haq Inu, in a defamation case filed over allegedly offensive remarks about former President Ziaur Rahman.

After a hearing today, Tuesday, metropolitan magistrate Rounak Jahan Taki of Dhaka issued the order.

This was confirmed to Prothom Alo by the lawyer of Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik, Naeemul Haque Majumdar.

According to court sources, an application was made today to show Hasanul Haq Inu as arrested in this defamation case. Earlier, the court had set today, Tuesday, as the date for presenting Rashed Khan and Shamsuddin Chowdhury, who had already been shown as arrested in this case. Today, their lawyers filed bail petitions in court on their behalf. After the hearing, the court granted them bail.

On 22 August 2024, a lawyer named Ziaul Haque filed the defamation case against the three at the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court in Dhaka.

The complaint states that Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik made allegedly offensive remarks about Ziaur Rahman while participating in a private television talk show on 3 October 2022, and at a seminar on 15 February 2021.

Earlier, on 9 July 2013, Hasanul Haq Inu and Rashed Khan Menon made similar allegedly offensive remarks about Ziaur Rahman while taking part in different events. The complaint further alleges that the accused have also made derogatory remarks about the Zia family on various occasions.