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The High Court has dismissed four extortion cases against BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman filed by the army-backed caretaker government 17 years ago.
The bench of Justice AKM Asaduzzaman and Justice Syed Enayet Hossain issued the order on Wednesday.
The application to dismiss the cases was presented by Tarique's lawyer AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon, who is also the president of the Supreme Court Bar Association.
Khokon said, “The proceedings of the four cases have been declared void. Tarique Rahman’s name does not appear in the FIRs (First Information Report) of these cases, yet he has been subjected to repeated remand and torture.”
He added, “The marks of inhumane treatment remain evident on his body.”
Kayser Kamal, another lawyer representing Tarique, said his client wished to resolve his own cases only after settling the political cases against BNP leaders and activists.
These cases were initiated in 2007, citing an extortion incident from 2004 during the tenure of the then-caretaker government.