A Chittagong tribunal on Monday granted bail to Kazi Zahedul Hasan, managing director of Kazi Farms Group, in a case filed under the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Act over a news report on land grabbing aired by Deepto TV in 2016.
He secured bail after surrendering to the Chittagong Divisional Cyber Tribunal of Zahirul Kabir on Monday afternoon in line with a High Court order. Three other accused in the same case who also surrendered were sent to jail pending their bail hearing.
Hearing on the bail petitions of the three other defendants will be held on Tuesday, said AHM Ziauddin, the defendants' lawyer.
The three are Kazi Farms Group directors Kazi Zahin Hasan and Kazi Zeeshan Hasan, and former Deepto Television chief operating officer Kazi Urfi Ahmed.
On June 5, the High Court granted the accused bail on condition of that they appear before the Chittagong tribunal within six weeks.
The case was filed six years ago after Deepto TV, a concern of Kazi Farms Group, aired a news item involving former overseas employment minister Nurul Islam and his son.
The plaintiff, Sanwara Poultry and Hatchery Ltd Manager Jahangir Alam, filed the case against the Kazi Farms top brass on April 5, 2016, alleging that the report aired by Deepto TV defamed Mujibur Rahman, managing director of Sanwara Poultry and Hatchery and also the son of the former minister.
The report had shown miscreants attacking the staff of Dohazari Kazi Poultry Limited in Chittagong district’s Chandanaish Upazila in an attempt to grab land owned by Kazi Farms, an attack reportedly instigated by Mujibur Rahman. The plaintiff claims that neither Mujibur nor his father had anything to do with the attack, and that their reputations were tarnished as a result of the TV report.
