SC to hear pleas againat acquittal of Tarique in grenade attack case

Supreme Court building.

Dhaka, July 31 – The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Thursday fixed August 13 for hearing the petition filed challenging the High Court order that had acquitted all accused, including BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman and former state minister Lutfozzaman Babar in August 21 grenade attack case.

A six-member bench of the Appellate Division, led by Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed, passed the order.

Additional Attorney General Abdul Jabbar Bhuiyan and three others stood for the state while senior advocates SM Shahjahan and Mohammad Shishir Monir represented as defence counsel.

On June 1, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court approved the leave-to-appeal petition filed by the state over challenging the High Court order in the case.

On March 19, the state filed an appeal petition challenging the High Court order in the case.

On December 1 last year, the High Court acquitted Tarique Rahman, who had been sentenced to life imprisonment and Lutfozzaman Babar, who had been sentenced to death, along with other accused in the case.

The grenade attack was carried out on August 21, 2004 in Dhaka’s Bangabandhu Avenue that left 24 people dead and nearly 300 others injured.

On October 10, 2018, a Dhaka Speedy Trial Tribunal pronounced a verdict in one of the cases (pertaining to murder and explosives).

The tribunal sentenced 19 accused, including Lutfozzaman Babar and former deputy education minister Abdus Salam Pintu, to death.

Besides, 19 others, including Tarique Rahman, were handed life term imprisonment while 11 accused received various terms of imprisonment and fines.

The judgment was subsequently transferred to the HC in 2018, registered as a death reference case.

The grenade attack on August 21, 2004 prompted the filing of two cases -- one for murder and another for explosives --with Motijheel Police Station.

In 2008, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) charged 22 people, alleging that the attack was orchestrated by militants aiming to assassinate Sheikh Hasina and render the Awami League leaderless.

Subsequently, under the Awami League government, further investigation led to the submission of an additional charge sheet, naming 30 people, including Tarique Rahman. - UNB