Supreme Court on Wednesday, for the fourth consecutive day, heard appeals against a High Court verdict that acquitted BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman, former state minister for home affairs Lutfozzaman Babar, and others in the August 21 grenade attack case.
A six-member Appellate Division bench led by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed adjourned proceedings and will resume the hearing on Thursday.
During Wednesday’s hearing, defence counsel SM Shahjahan argued that there was no evidence linking the accused to the attack, its planning, or their presence at the scene. He said that without last year’s political changeover, none of the detainees would have been released, noting that all were freed following the shift on August 5 last year.
Shahjahan urged the apex court to uphold the High Court verdict that cleared the accused.
On Tuesday, Deputy Attorney General Abdullah Al Mahmud Masud argued for the state, requesting the Supreme Court to overturn the HC verdict and reinstate the trial court’s convictions.
Defence lawyers SM Shahjahan, Zainul Abedin, Kayser Kamal, Mohammad Shishir Manir, Jaiad Bin Amjad, and Md Maksud Ullah were present during the proceedings.
On June 2, the Appellate Division allowed the state to file two appeals against the HC judgment.
On December 1 last year, the High Court acquitted all 49 accused, including Tarique and Babar, overturning trial court verdicts that had earlier convicted and sentenced them in connection with the grenade attack on an Awami League rally in 2004.
The acquittal followed hearings on death references and appeals filed by several convicts. The state later appealed to the Appellate Division, seeking to reverse the HC decision.
