The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Thursday set September 4 to deliver its verdict on the government鈥檚 appeal against a High Court judgment that acquitted all 49 convicts in the cases filed over grenade attack that took place on August 21 in 2004.
The six members bench chaired by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed set the date after hearing deputy attorney general Abdullah Al Mahmud Masud for three days and the defence counsels SM Shajahan and Mohammad Shishir Manir for two days.
The cases stem from the grenade attack on an Awami League rally on Bangabandhu Avenue in Dhaka, which killed 24 people and injured many others. The rally was held 21 years ago, when the AL was in opposition.
Sheikh Hasina, the then opposition leader and AL president, survived the attack but suffered hearing damage. She fled to India on August 5, 2024, amid the student-led uprising.
The High Court, on December 1, 2024, overturned the 2018 trial court verdict that had convicted 49 individuals, including Tarique Rahman, acting BNP chairperson and son of BNP chairman and former prime minister Khaleda Zia, and Lutfozzaman Babar, former BNP state minister for home.
All the detained convicts released from the jails on the High Court acquittal order.
The government later challenged the HC ruling, and the Appellate Division heard arguments over five days. The six-member bench, led by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed, heard the government for three days and defence lawyers SM Shajahan and Mohammad Shishir Manir for two.
The High Court had ruled that the trial was flawed and cited multiple legal inconsistencies. It said the supplementary charge sheet filed in 2011, during the Awami League regime, added 30 new names without proper justification.
The new accused included Tarique Rahman, Lutfozzaman Babar, Harris Chowdhury (Khaleda Zia鈥檚 political secretary), Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mujahid (executed for war crimes), and former NSI chief Rezzakul Haider Chowdhury.
The HC verdict noted that the investigation lacked impartiality and called for a fresh probe by expert and neutral agencies. It said justice was not served for victims like Ivy Rahman and others killed in the attack.
During the Supreme Court hearing, deputy attorney general Abdullah Al Mahmud Masud urged the court to reinstate the convictions, arguing the High Court erred in acquitting all 49.
He also opposed the HC鈥檚 direction for further investigation, saying a reinvestigation is not applicable once a trial is concluded. However, he admitted no eyewitnesses were produced and the case relied mostly on confessional statements.
Defence counsel SM Shajahan said the trial targeted the wrong people for political reasons and failed to identify the real perpetrators. He pointed out that two cases were filed for the same incident 鈥� one for murder, the other under the Explosives Act 鈥� which he argued amounted to double jeopardy, violating the Constitution.
Shajahan said that Tarique Rahman and 29 accused were implicated following a further investigation during the trial, together with 23 others previous accused including Mufti Abdul Hannan and two of his associates who were later executed in a case linked to murder attempt on former British High Commissioner Anwar Chowdhury.
The Supreme Court鈥檚 verdict on September 4 will determine the fate of the long-disputed case, 21 years after the attack.