The state has filed a leave to appeal against the High Court (HC) verdict that acquitted all convicts, including BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman and former Home Minister Lutfozzaman Babar, in the 21 August grenade attack cases under the murder and explosives acts.
According to defense lawyer Shishir Monir, separate petitions have been placed on the Appellate Division's cause list for Wednesday (March 19).
Earlier, on December 1, the HC bench of Justice AKM Asaduzzaman and Justice Syed Enayetur Rahim delivered the verdict.
The full text of the judgment was released on March 19.
Following the release, the state filed separate leave to appeal petitions. On March 13, the Chamber Judge of the Appellate Division referred the petitions to the full bench for a hearing.
Earlier, The 21 August 2004 grenade attack targeted an Awami League rally at Bangabandhu Avenue, narrowly missing party chief and then-Opposition Leader Sheikh Hasina. The attack killed 24 people, including Ivy Rahman, Awami League’s women affairs secretary and wife of former President Zillur Rahman, and injured over 300 others.
Two cases were filed at Motijheel Police Station the next day under the murder and explosives laws. In 2008, a charge sheet was submitted against 22 people, including BNP leader Abdus Salam Pintu, his brother Maulana Tajuddin, and HuJI leader Mufti Abdul Hannan.
Following further investigation, a supplementary charge sheet was filed in 2011, bringing the total number of accused to 52. However, three were executed in other cases, reducing the number to 49.
On October 10, 2018, a Dhaka court sentenced 19 people, including Lutfozzaman Babar and Abdus Salam Pintu, to death, while 19 others, including Tarique Rahman, were given life imprisonment. Another 11 were sentenced to different jail terms.
The case was sent to the High Court for review, where death-row convicts also appealed against their sentences. After hearings that started on October 31, 2023, the High Court delivered its verdict on December 1, acquitting all accused.
BDST: 1418 HRS, March 19, 2025
MSK/SMS
