The High Court on Sunday granted anticipatory bail to 25 lawyers including Barrister Mahbub Uddin Khokon in a case filed over vandalising the office of the Supreme Court Bar secretary centering the election of Supreme Court Bar Association. The HC bench of Justice Md Salim and Justice Md Riaz Uddin Khan passed the order till the submission of the police report in the case. Senior lawyers Barrister M Amir Ul Islam and Barrister AJ Mohammad Ali stood for the petitioners. On May 16, a scuffle took place among the lawyers at the office of Supreme Court Bar secretary. The office was also vandalised. Also read: HC summons N’ganj DC, DoE officials for not complying with directives to control air pollution Assistant Superintendent of Supreme Court Bar, Md Rafiqullah filed a case against 25 identified lawyers and 150 unidentified lawyers with Shahbagh Police Station on that day. Charges including vandalism, harassing female lawyers and stealing of a gold chain worth Tk one lakh, cash Tk 50,000 and a watch worth Tk 15,000 were also brought against them. The Supreme Court Bar Association was held on May 15 and 16 amid chaos. Awami League panel won in all 14 posts of the election. The BNP panel remained off from casting votes but they brought out a procession on May 16.  

A petition for anticipatory bail for Prothom Alo Editor and Publisher Matiur Rahman has been submitted to the High Court in a case filed under Digital Security Act. The case was filed with Dhaka’s Ramna Police Station on March 29. Defendant’s Counsel Prashanta Kumar Karmakar told UNB that they submitted the petition for anticipatory bail earlier this morning. At the time of filing this report around 11am, hearing regarding the petition is yet to start, he said. Read More: Prothom Alo journo offered a child Tk 10 and expressed his views in the minor’s name: Foreign Ministry On March 29, an FIR was filed by a lawyer named Abdul Malek (Mashiur Malek), accusing Matiur Rahman, Prothom Alo reporter Shamsuzzaman Shams, an unnamed “assistant cameraman”, and unnamed others of “using print, online, and electronic media to tarnish the image and reputation of the state.” In the FIR, the lawyer also mentioned that the accused were “purposefully spreading misinformation to deteriorate the law and order situation of the country.” The case was filed under sections 25, 31 and 35 of the DSA. Read More: Prothom Alo journalist Shams denied bail, sent to jail The plaintiff said the news reported by Shamsuzzaman Shams went viral on social media which “tarnished the image of the country and triggered criticism at home and abroad.” Moreover, there was a possibility of deterioration in the law and order situation in the country over the matter, the case statement said. Later, Shamsuzzaman Shams, the paper’s Savar correspondent who wrote the report was sued in a separate case under the DSA on March 29, around 10 hours after being picked up from his house near Jahangirnagar University by members of the Criminal Investigation Department of police. Read More: Prothom Alo reporter Shamsuzzaman sued under DSA Multiple national and international bodies including Editors’ Council, Editors’ Guild of Bangladesh, Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Manabadhikar Shongskriti Foundation (MSF) and the Media Freedom Coalition (MFC) have published separate statements condemning the arrest of Shams.

The High Court (HC) on Wednesday granted a six-week anticipatory bail to 102 BNP activists and leaders including national executive committee’s Organising Secretary Mahbube Rahman Shamim in four cases over clash with police in the port city’s Kazir Dewri area on January 16. An HC bench of Justice Mostafa Zaman Islam and Justice Mohammad Aminul Islam granted the bail after hearing a petition, lawyer Mujibur Rahman, a counsel of the BNP, said. Read more: SC upholds bail of Fakhrul and Abbas, no bar to release  Md Idris Ali, office secretary of Chattogram Metropolitan unit BNP, confirmed the news. City unit BNP Convener Dr Shahadat Hossain and Member Secretary Abul Hashem Bakkar, among others, secured the bail. On January 16, a clash broke out between the BNP supporters and police when a BNP rally was going on in front of the party office in the Kazir Dewri area. At least 30 people from both the BNP and police were injured in the clashes while law enforcers detained 20 people. Police sued some 200 BNP men in four cases on that night.

The High Court (HC) today (September 14, 2022) granted anticipatory bail to controversial Laxmipur UP chairman Md Selim Khan for four weeks in a graft case. The HC bench of Justice Sheikh Hassan Arif and Justice Biswajit Debnath passed the order. The court also asked him to surrender before the  trial court after four weeks. Read: HC directs Laxmipur UP Chairman Selim Khan to surrender within 3 weeks Advocate Momtaz Uddin Fakir appeared for Salim Khan at the court while Advocate Khorshed Alam Khan appeared for the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). Selim Khan’s counsel submitted the bail petition on Tuesday. On August 14, HC asked Selim to surrender to the trial court within three weeks in a case filed over acquiring Tk 34 crore illegal assets through unauthorised sand extraction. On August 1, ACC’s assistant director Ataur Rahman filed the case against Selim Khan for acquiring the assets illegally. Read: AL expels UP chairman Selim Khan According to the complaint, Selim Khan acquired assets worth Tk 34,53, 81,119 beyond his known source of income and he concealed information about his assets . On August 8, the Appellate Division ruled that Md Selim Khan must pay a huge amount in royalties against sand extraction from the Meghna river banks. It said since 2016, writ petitioner Selim Khan had been extracting sand from the Meghna River in Chandpur Sadar and Haimchar illegally, causing the government to incur a huge losses.

The High Court on Tuesday granted  Bangladesh national cricket team pacer Al-Amin Hossain  anticipatory bail for eight weeks in the case over torturing wife for dowry. The HC bench of Justice Md Rezaul Hasan and Justice Md Atabullah passed the order after he surrendered before the court. The court also asked him to surrender before Dhaka Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal after eight weeks. Supreme Court lawyers Syed Mamun Mahbub and Barrister Md Ashraful Islam appeared for the bail petition. Read: India, Sri Lanka face off in a crucial encounter in Asia Cup 2022 Al-Amin's counsel Barrister Md Ashraful Islam submitted the bail petition on Monday. On September 1, cricketer Al-Amin's wife Israt Jahan  lodged a complaint with Mirpur Model police station against him over torturing her for dowry. Later, police registered a case. According to the case statement, Al-Amin demanded Tk 20 lakh as dowry from his wife and used to beat her as she disagreed to pay the amount. He also drove her out of the house with their two children on August 25, it added.  

The High Court on Monday granted six-weeks anticipatory bail to Square Group Managing Director Anjan Chowdhury in a case filed over illegal stockpiling of rice. HC bench of Justice Jahangir Hossain and Justice Shahed Nuruddin passed the order after he appealed for bail appearing before the court. Senior advocate Shafik Ahmed and barrister Mahbub Shafique presented the petitioner's side while Deputy Attorney General Sarwar Hossain Bappi appeared for the state. On June 1, administration seized 5,124 tonnes of atap rice from the warehouse of Square Food and Beverage in Dinajpur sadar upazila. READ: HC orders to set up information centre at SC within 60 days As the mill had only approval of stocking 312 tonnes of rice, in-charge of the mill Zayed Hossain was shown arrested in a case filed during a mobile court conducted by Mortuza Al Moyeed, executive magistrate and Dinajpur sadar Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO). Biplab Kumar Sinha, upazila food controller filed the case complaint against Anjan Chowdhury and Zayed Hassan in this regard. The market price of the seized rice was around Tk 41 crore, which was too huge amount to be trialed by the mobile court so the complaint was handed over to kotwali police station for lodging as a regular case, said Mozaffar Hossain, Officer-in-Charge of Kotwali police station.

The High Court on Tuesday granted six-week anticipatory bail to 14 BNP leaders and activists in a case over clashes between New Market shop keepers and Dhaka College students. Amir Hossain Alamgir, convener of New Market Thana Jubo Dal, was among the BNP leaders. The HC bench of Justice Mustafa Zaman Islam and Justice Md Salim passed the order after the accused appeared before the court and sought bail. Also read:New Market clashes: BNP leader Makbul held The court also asked the accused to surrender before the concerned judicial court before the six-week bail period expires. Barrister Kayser Kamal  stood for the bail petitioners at the court while Deputy Attorney General Shaheen Ahmed Khan represented the state. On April 20, police filed two cases-one for attacking police and another under the Explosive Substances Act against around 1,200 people . Of the two cases, Yeamin Kabir, inspector (investigation) of New Market Police Station lodged an FIR against 24 identified people and 900 unidentified ones. The main accused in the case, Advocate Makbul Hossain, former president of New Market Thana BNP, has been arrested. Also read: Police out to hush up its failure, BCL’s involvement in New Market violence: Fakhrul Two people died and more than 30 people, including journalists and students, were injured as the students of Dhaka College clashed with the shopkeepers of New Market at the Nilkhet intersection from midnight on April 18-19. Shopkeepers, however, alleged that the students were beaten up as they had refused to foot the bill at an eatery.

The High Court on Thursday granted anticipatory bail to Dhaka University professor Sheikh Hafizur Rahman Karzon for eight weeks in a case filed under the Digital Security Act. A division bench of justices Jahangir Hossain Selim and Md Atoar Rahman passed the order while hearing his bail plea during a virtual hearing and also asked the law professor to surrender before the tribunal hearing the case by this period. Barrister Omar Farooq appeared for the professor in the court while Deputy Attorney General Sarwar Hossain Bappi represented the state. Also read: Remove Riaz's father-in-law's 'suicide' video from social media: HC On July 22 last year, Prof Karzon wrote a post on Facebook that stoked a major controversy, forcing him to subsequently remove the same. He had also apologised for "hurting the religious sentiments of people". However, on August 1, Amit Bhowmik, the general secretary of the central committee of the Bangladesh Hindu Juba Parishad, filed a case against Prof Karzon under the Digital Security Act alleging that his post had hurt the religious sentiments of people. Also read:Court accept charges against 'Shishu Bokta' Rafiqul in DSA case

The High Court on Thursday granted anticipatory bail to actor and singer Tahsan Khan forsix months in a case filed over fraud and embezzlement associated with their involvement in Evaly, a shuttered e-commerce platform. The HC bench of justice Sheikh Md Zakir Hossain and Khijir Hayat passed the order. In its observation, the court said that the celebrities need to be more careful before working as a brand ambassador or model of any advertisement as common people follow them and people lost a huge amount of money through investing in Evaly. Earlier on Wednesday, Tahsan appealed for anticipatory bail in this case. Also read: Evaly scam: Mithila, Faria get anticipatory bail On December 13, actors Rafiath Rashid Mithila and Shabnam Faria were granted anticipatory bail for eight weeks in the same case. Tahsan was the goodwill ambassador of Evaly, while Mithila was associated with Evaly as the face of the company's lifestyle products. Besides, Shabnam Faria joined it as the chief public relations officer. On December 4, an aggrieved Evaly customer, Saad Sam Rahman, filed the case with Dhanmondi police station against nine people, including Evaly CEO Mohammad Rassel, Chairman Shamima Nasrin, actors Tahsan Khan, Mithila, and Faria. Also read: Tahsan, Mithila, Faria face possible arrest over Evaly scam The other accused in the case are Akash, Arif, Taher and Md Abu Taish Kayes. Mohammad Rassel and Shamima Nasrin, now behind bars, were also shown arrested in this case. According to the case, celebrities Tahsan Khan, Rafiath Rashid Mithila and Shabnam Faria were in different positions in Evaly. Because of their presence and their various promotional talks, Saad Sam invested Tk 3,18,000 in Evaly. The plaintiff alleged that he was deceived because of the promotional talks of these celebrities.

Bashundhara Group Managing Director Sayem Sobhan Anvir  submitted a petition to the High Court on Thursday seeking anticipatory bail in a case over the rape and murder of college student Mosarat Jahan Munia in April this year. HC bench of Justice Msotafa Zaman Islam and KM Zahid Sarwar will hear the bail petition on September 29. On April 26, police recovered the hanging body of Munia from her flat in Gulshan. Munia's elder sister Nusrat Jahan Tania filed a case against Anvir that night accusing him of incitement to suicide. According to Tania, her sister Munia was in a relationship with Anvir who regularly visited her at the Gulshan apartment. Also read: Munia's death: Bashundhara MD among 8 sued over ‘rape, murder’ On July 19, the investigating officer of the case, Gulshan Police Station officer-in-charge Abul Hasan, submitted a final report to the court giving a clean chit to Anvir. On September 6, Munia's sister Nusrat Jahan Tania filed a rape and murder case against Bashundhara Group MD and seven others with Dhaka's 8th Tribunal for Prevention of Women and Children's Repression. The court after recording the complaint, directed the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) to submit a report on it. Also read: Munia's death: Court accepts IO's final report clearing Bashundhara Group MD The seven other accused in the case are: Bashundhara Group's Chairman Ahmed Akbar Sobhan Shah Alam, Shah Alam's wife Afroza Begum; Anvir's wife Sabrina Sayem; Faria Mahbub Piyasha; Saifa Rahman Mim; landlord of the flat where the victim was staying, Ibrahim Ahmed Ripon and his wife Sharmim Akhter.