HC defers bail hearing for BNP leader Mirza Fakhrul again to Jan 10

The High Court has pushed back the hearing on a rule related to BNP leader Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir’s bail over the attack on the chief justice’s residence to Jan 10.

The panel of Justice Md Saleem and Justice Shahed Nooruddin fixed the new date on Wednesday after Fakhrul’s lawyer Waliur Rahman sought more time to prepare for the hearing, citing ‘personal circumstances’.

The case filed at the Ramna Police Station revolves around the violence surrounding the BNP’s antigovernment rally on Oct 28.

The rally was marred by deadly clashes between party loyalists and the police as several vehicles were vandalised and torched. The home of the chief justice was also vandalised during the clashes.

Mirza Fakhrul called for a nationwide shutdown in the wake of the violence. Detective police subsequently arrested him from his home in Gulshan on the morning of the hartal on Oct 29.

The following day, he was refused bail and sent to jail on charges of instigating the attack on the chief justice’s home.

After two lower courts denied him bail in the case, Fakhrul’s lawyers sought the High Court’s intervention.

On Dec 7, the bench issued a rule asking why the BNP leader should not be granted bail, giving the authorities seven days to respond. However, the matter could not be placed on the court’s hearing list as the required files were not prepared in time, according to Fakhrul’s lawyers.

On Dec 14, the High Court rescheduled the hearing to Dec 17, but it was delayed once again to Wednesday.