The High Court (HC) has overturned the verdict of a lower court in two cases filed over the August 21 grenade attack, acquitting all convicts, including BNP’s Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman and former state minister for home affairs Lutfozzaman Babar.
An HC bench comprising Justice AKM Asaduzzaman and Justice Syed Enayet Hossain delivered the judgement on Sunday.
The court also declared the charge sheet in the case illegal.
Earlier, the court concluded hearings on the death reference and appeals of the accused on November 21, keeping the cases awaiting judgment (CAV).
Subsequently, the two cases were listed for verdict today (Sunday).
The grenade attack, a shocking incident, occurred on Dhaka’s Bangabandhu Avenue on August 21, 2004.
On October 10, 2018, a Dhaka Speedy Trial Tribunal issued a verdict in one of the cases (pertaining to murder and explosives).
The tribunal sentenced 19 accused, including former state minister for home affairs Lutfozzaman Babar and former deputy education minister Abdus Salam Pintu, to death.
Besides, 19 others, including BNP’s acting chairman Tarique Rahman, were handed life imprisonment sentences, 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.
Hearings for the death reference and related appeals are typically held concurrently. In this instance, hearings in the High Court for the August 21 grenade attack case, encompassing the death reference and appeals, began on October 31.
The grenade attack on August 21, 2004 prompted the filing of two cases-one for murder and another for explosives-at 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.
