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The High Court on Tuesday granted bail to rights body Odhikar's Secretary Adilur Rahman Khan and its Director ASM Nasiruddin Elan in a case filed under Section 57 of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Act, in which they were sentenced to two years in jail.
An HC bench of Justice Md Emdadul Haque Azad passed the order after hearing a bail petition filed by Odhikar officials.
The bench also stayed the fine of Tk10,000 imposed on each of them by the trail court.
Lawyers AJ Mohammad Ali and Md Ruhul Amin Bhuiyan appeared in the court hearing on behalf of the Odhikar officials.
Earlier on September 25, Adilur Rahman Khan and ASM Nasiruddin Elan filed an appeal petition with the HC against their jail sentence in the case.
They also submitted a bail petition along with the appeal petition, said their counsel Md Ruhul Amin Bhuiyan.
On September 14, a Dhaka court sentenced Adilur and Nasiruddin to two years' imprisonment in the case.
The court also fined each of the two right activists Tk10,000, in default of which, they will have to serve one month more in jail.
Judge of the Dhaka Cyber Tribunal AM Julfiker Hayet delivered the verdict in presence of the duo. The two accused were sent to jail after pronouncement of the verdict.
While being taken to the prison van, Adilur Rahman Khan told the reporters, "I did not get justice. I will go to the higher court against this verdict."
The case was filed for running 'a distorted report' about the May 5-6, 2013 police action on a Hefazat-e-Islam rally in the capital's Motijheel.
On June 10, 2013, Detective Branch (DB) of police filed a general diary with the Gulshan Police Station in this connection, which was later converted into a case.
Detectives arrested Adilur at Gulshan on August 10, 2013 shortly after filing the GD complaining that the rights body on its website ran a false report titled "Assembly of Hefazat-e Islam Bangladesh and Human Rights Violation".
The High Court granted bail to him on October 9 that year in the case.
Detectives on August 11, 2013 raided the Odhikar's Gulshan office and seized three laptops and two desktop computers, which were used to prepare a fake list of 61 dead victims.
After probing the case, the DB on September 4 the same year pressed charges against Adilur and Nasiruddin.
Odhikar's report claimed that 61 people died in the wee hours of May 6 when the law enforcers flushed several thousand Hefazat activists out of the Shapla Chattar in the capital's Motijheel. The government, however, put the number of deaths at 13.
The Cyber Tribunal took into cognizance the charges against Adilur and Nasiruddin on September 12 in 2013.
The tribunal framed charge against them on January 8 in 2014. Later the High Court stayed the proceedings of the case. The proceedings of the case resumed on September 5, 2021 after the HC withdrew its stay order.
Addressing the state lawyer during the hearing of the bail petition, Justice Azad commented that they "have made the country a hell."
Attorney General AM Amin Uddin following the judge's comment lodged a complain with Chief Justice Obaidul Hassan and sought action against Justice Md Emdadul Haque. The AG also alleged that Justice Azad had broken his oath.
Attorney General while talking to the reporters at his office on Tuesday said, "You have made the country a hell, such kind of statement of a justice is unconstitutional and indecent."