Two district courts have summoned BNP Senior Vice-Chairman Tarique Rahman in five separate cases on charges of maligning Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
In Comilla, the court of Senior Judicial Magistrate summoned Tarique on Monday, after taking three cases against Tarique into cognisance.
The court ordered Tarique to appear before it on January 22 in one case and January 30 in two other cases.
The cases were filed by Comilla BCL leaders Kamal Pervez, Hossain Ahmed and Mozammel Haque on Sunday.
Meanwhile, two cases were filed by Barisal BCL leader Nahid Serniabad and Jubo league leader Advocate Kaium Khan Kawsar.
Barisal Metropolitan Magistrate Nusrat Jahan took two cases against Tarique into cognisance and passed the order in both cases on Monday afternoon.
The court also ordered Tarique to appear before it on March 11, 2015.
While addressing a programme in London on December 15, Tarique called Bangladesh’s founding president Bangabandhu a “razakar,” a term which has become synonymous with a collaborator or traitor of Pakistani military since the 1971 Liberation War.
Following the speech, Tarique faced strong criticism at home. Several arrest warrants were issued against him in a number of defamation cases.
Tarique has been in London since September 11, 2008 on medical grounds after securing parole in various cases.
He faces 14 charges, of which four, including the August 21 grenade attack case, are on trial and the rest are stayed.