The High Court yesterday directed law enforcers to refrain from arresting or harassing BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir in connection with three cases till the submission of police report in the cases.
While passing this order, the bench of Justice Borhanuddin and Justice KM Kamrul Kader told the lawyers of the BNP leader that police could arrest Mirza Fakhrul anytime after submitting charge sheet against him. The lawyers agreed with the court.
The High Court said it had disposed of the three petitions of the BNP acting secretary general. The pleas sought anticipatory bail and sought the order on not to arrest-harass in the three cases.
Ruhul Quddus Kazal, a lawyer of Fakhrul, told the Dhaka Tribune that according to the section 167 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, a police report includes charge sheet and final report. The final report discharges a person from allegations in a case. The High Court mentioned the phrase “police report” as there was no term such as charge sheet in the law, he said.
Mirza Fakhrul was present in the courtroom until the order of the court in the afternoon. He was seen in the Supreme Court premises around 9.30am, said Sharif U Ahmed, a pro-BNP lawyer.
AJ Mohammad Ali, Zainul Abedin and Sagir Hossain contended for Fakhrul, saying the name of the BNP leader was mentioned in the case, but not as an accused. Deputy Attorney General Md Salim and Aminur Rahman Chowdhury represented the government.
After the order, when Fakhrul and his lawyers left the courtroom, a Supreme Court lawyer told the court they had acted foolishly by not seeking anticipatory bail.
In reply, Justice Borhanuddin said the court could do nothing if they did not seek it.
The court, when passing the order, gave the chance to the lawyers of Fakhrul to decide whether they wanted bail or “not to arrest-harass” order. They chose the latter.
All three cases were related to murdering people by torching buses.
Khandker Mahbub case
The High Court bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Mohammad Ullah extends the stay for two months more on the two-day police remand against Khandker Mahbub Hossain, an adviser to BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia.
