Survivors and families of the victims of the August 21, 2004 grenade attacks look to the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court seeking justice 21 years after the attack on a rally of the then opposition Awami League in Dhaka.
The six-member bench headed by the chief justice Syed Refaat Ahmed on Wednesday adjourned till Thursday the hearing of the government鈥檚 appeal against a High Court verdict that had acquitted all the 49 convicts in two cases related to the attacks.
The grenade attack on the rally of the Awami League, activities of which have been suspended until trial of the party and its leaders for atrocities committed during the July 2024 mass uprising, on the Bangabandhu Avenue killed 24 people and injured scores.
The then leader of the opposition in parliament and AL president Sheikh Hasina, who fled to India on August 5 amid the student-led mass uprising on August 5, 2024, survived the attack with hearing impairment.
The government appeal challenged the High Court verdict delivered on December 1, 2024 overturning the convictions of 49 individuals, including acting Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairman Tarique Rahman and former state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar in two cases of the n grenade attack.
The HC bench of Justice AKM Asaduzzaman and Justice Syed Enayet Hossain declared the 2018 trial court verdict illegal, citing multiple legal inconsistencies.
Two cases 鈥� one for murder and another under the Explosive Substances Act 鈥� were filed by the police against unidentified people for the grenade attack.
The High Court observed that in 2011, during the Awami League regime, 30 additional individuals, including Tarique, Babar, former prime minister Khaleda Zia鈥檚 political secretary Harris Chowdhury, Jamaat-e-Islami leader Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mujahid, who was executed in a war crime case, and former National Security Intelligence director general Rezzakul Haider Chowdhury, were named in a supplementary charge sheet.
The High Court urged the home ministry to initiate a proper investigation by expert and impartial agencies to ensure justice for the victims.
The verdict read, 鈥楾his heinous and tragic incident requires a thorough and independent investigation to bring justice to the victims, including Ivy Rahman, the then AL leader, and others who lost their lives. The earlier proceedings failed to deliver fair justice.鈥�
Deputy attorney general Abdullah Al Mahmud Masud on Tuesday during the Appellate Division hearing, urged it to reinstate the convictions of all 49 accused.
Masum argued that the High Court erred in acquitting all 49 convicts.
He opposed the High Court direction to the home ministry to reinvestigate the cases, arguing that further investigation would only applicable if the case was under trial.
He, however, admitted that no eyewitnesses were presented, and the prosecution relied mainly on the confessional statements of the accused.
In response, chief defence counsel SM Shajahan told 抖阴精品 on Wednesday that the trial targeted the wrong individuals to harass them politically as the real perpetrators were not properly identified due to a flawed investigation.
He said the High Court ordered the government to arrange a fresh probe and added, 鈥榃e cannot say now what the Appellate Division will decide.鈥�
Shajahan also argued that two cases were filed for the same incident, amounting to double jeopardy and a violation of the constitution.
