HC orders Dhaka court to hear bail pleas of Mirza Abbas, Annie
The High Court has ordered the Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Court to hold hearings on the bail petitions of BNP standing committee member Mirza Abbas and its publicity secretary Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Annie in separate cases.
The HC bench of Justice Mustafa Zaman Islam and Justice Md Atabullah passed the orders on Sunday after hearing the petitions.
Advocate Joynul Abedin accompanied by advocate Sagir Hossain represented the BNP leaders while deputy attorney general Tushar Kanti Roy and assistant attorney general Salim Azad appeared for the state.
The HC also directed the CMM court to dispose of the bail pleas within 15 days as per law.
On 28 October, police filed against the two leaders after a BNP rally in Nayapaltan area turned violent, leaving a police personnel dead and several others injured.
Of the cases, 10 were filed against Mirza Abbas with Ramna, Paltan and Dhaka railway police stations while two against Annie with New Market and Dhanmondi police stations.
On 10 January, the Dhaka CMM Court rejected their bail appeals.
Later, they filed separate writ petitions on 15 January seeking directives from the High Court to dispose of their cases upon acceptance of bail petitions.
BNP leaders Mirza Abbas and Annie were arrested in October and have been in jail since then.