Former planning minister MA Mannan was granted bail on Wednesday afternoon.
Sunamganj District and Sessions Judge Hemayet Uddin granted him the bail.
Mannan's lawyer Abdul Hamid said: "The court granted bail considering his illness and age. We are pleased with the court's decision."
Earlier, the bail hearing created a commotion between the plaintiff's and defendant's lawyers during the session. The incident occurred at 10:30am on Wednesday when the bail hearing began in the court.
The plaintiff's lawyers argued that the court date had been set unusually, claiming the date was mistakenly listed for Wednesday.
They said they were unprepared for the hearing. This led to a heated exchange between the lawyers from both sides, prompting the judge to briefly leave the courtroom. The hearing was later rescheduled for 2:30pm.
The plaintiff’s lawyer Masuk Alam mentioned that the lower court had denied Mannan’s bail request on Tuesday.
However, a "miscellaneous case" was filed in the Senior District and Sessions Judge Court that afternoon, leading to Wednesday's bail hearing.
MA Mannan was arrested on September 19 from his residence in Shantiganj, in connection with an attack during a protest by Sunamganj students on August 4.
Mannan, a former bureaucrat, won his first parliamentary seat in the 9th National Election in 2008. After retiring from public service in 2003, he had previously lost the 2005 Sunamganj-3 by-election as an Awami League candidate. He won again in the 10th election in 2014 and the 11th in 2018. He was appointed state minister for Planning in 2014, later assuming additional responsibilities under the Ministry of Finance. Following the 11th Parliament Election in 2018, he served as planning minister.
Though re-elected for a fourth consecutive term in January 2024, Mannan was not included in the current cabinet but was appointed chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Planning.
