Country dragged thru hell over BNP's so-called movement: HC

The country and its people have been dragged down to hell through vandalism, arson and attacks on public and private property for months over the BNP's so-called movement to establish voting rights, the High Court (HC) said today.

An HC bench of Justice Md Salim and Justice Shahed Nuruddin passed a verdict on 10 January rejecting the bail plea of BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir in the case filed over the attack on the chief justice's residence.

"Unfortunately, we have seen during the last few months that those [BNP] propagating for so-called voting rights have been engaged in creating a state of anarchy in the country, causing loss of lives, setting fires, attacking hospitals, ambulances, public and private transport. We do take judicial notice of these events, which brought the country to a state of panic. Indeed, the country and its people have been dragged through hell," the HC made the observation in an eight-page verdict published on Tuesday (16 January).

Mentioning that the attack on the chief justice's residence amounted to sedition, the court said, "We have anxiously considered the submissions of the learned counsel for both parties and perused the record. It manifests that the court below has seen the CD [court docket] and found the involvement of the accused petitioner with the instant case. 

"Moreover, as the case is still under investigation, without creating any impact on the investigation process we can nevertheless state that the allegation, particularly that of an attack on the residence of the Chief Justice and forcible entrance into that house, is a very serious one indeed."

The court also said, "Whether the petitioner is the mastermind or had any role in the catastrophic, unruly events, can only be decided after a fair investigation, but to ensure fairness in the investigation, we are of the view that it will not be conducive to release him on bail at this stage." 

On 28 October, the police filed a total of 11 cases against Mirza Fakhrul and other BNP leaders and activists in Ramna and Paltan police stations for the attack on the residence of the Chief Justice. 

Mirza Fakhrul secured bail in nine of the 11 cases on 10 January.