The High Court has observed that the country and its people were “taken to hell” through violence during the BNP’s grand rally on October 28 last year.
The observation came in the full eight-page ruling on a petition for BNP leader Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir’s bail, published on the Supreme Court's website on Tuesday after Justice Md Salim and Justice Shahed Nuruddin signed it.
The court on January 10 dismissed a ruling on his bail in a case over an attack on the chief justice's official residence during the BNP's rally on October 28. It had issued a ruling previously on December 7 asking the state why the BNP leader should not be granted bail in the case.
“We have considered the arguments of both parties and examined the records. It is clear from the case documents that the trial court has seen the CD (with the necessary documents) and found the involvement of the accused applicant in this case,” the High Court said in its latest ruling.
“Even though the case is sub judice, we can say, without impacting the investigation process, that the allegations of the attack on and forcible entry into the chief justice's residence are indeed very serious. The chief justice heads one of the three main pillars of a republic.”
The court continued: “The defence counsel argued that Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir had been far away from the residence of the chief justice. However, the judgement in the case against Barendra Kumar Ghosh and others (Privy Council, October 23, 1942) was that a person could be held liable under Section 34 of the Penal Code for abetting a crime, even if the abetment was done from a distant place. The same principle was reiterated in the case of Major Md Bazlul Huda (artillery) and others vs the state. We believe that a person can give orders to his followers from far away.
“The lawyers for Mirza Fakhrul said in a hearing of the case that the applicant was extremely ill. This claim goes against the accused, who played a major role as the chief guest (of the October 28 rally), which is not possible for a seriously ailing person. We must say, without affecting the investigation, that there are some implicit admissions about his involvement.”
The accused had been protesting for a long time, calling it a movement to ensure people's voting rights, the judges said. “Unfortunately, the past few months have seen the so-called demand for suffrage lead to anarchy, which includes incidents such as loss of lives, arson and attacks on hospitals, ambulances, vehicles carrying daily necessities and police vehicles.”
In short, the so-called protesters had wreaked havoc, the court observed.
“We have taken cognizance of these unjustifiable and destructive incidents, which have apparently created panic in the country. In fact, the country and its people had been taken to hell.”
Whether the petitioner had masterminded or played any role in these events could be decided only after a fair investigation, the bench said in its ruling.
“We feel that granting him bail at this stage would not be helpful in ensuring the impartiality of the investigation. Some clauses in the case are non-bailable. We dismiss the [previous] ruling considering the safety of the republic and its people to be paramount. However, if the petitioner, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, is suffering from any illness, we are directing the jail authorities to take necessary measures for his treatment.”
The police filed the case with Ramna police station over the attack on the chief justice’s home during a clash between BNP men and law enforcement on October 28, accusing 59 leaders and activists of the BNP, including Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and Standing Committee Member Mirza Abbas.
Fakhrul called for a nationwide hartal in the wake of the violence. Detectives subsequently picked him up from his home in Gulshan on the morning of the hartal on Oct 29, officially arresting him hours later.
The following day, he was denied bail and sent to jail on charges of instigating the attack on the chief justice's residence.
Later on December 3, Fakhrul’s lawyers sought the High Court’s intervention on the issue of his bail.
On December 7, the High Court issued a ruling asking why the BNP leader should not be granted bail.
However, the court on January 10 dismissed the ruling, rejecting his bail petition.