HC grants Nizami interim bail

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The High Court (HC) granted Monday two-month interim bail to detained Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer and former minister Motiur Rahman Nizami in the Gatco graft case in which former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia is the principal accused.

A special court that is trying the high-profile case rejected the Jamaat chief's bail plea on July 9, reports UNB.

Passing the order for enlarging him, an HC Division Bench comprising Justice Sharif Uddin Chaklader and Justice Emdadul Haque also issued a rule asking the government and the Anti-corruption Commission (ACC) to explain why Mr Nizami "should not be granted permanent bail".

Defence counsel Barrister Abdur Razzak told reporters that, during the bail hearing before the court, they put up their arguments on three counts.

The charge sheet in the case should have been submitted in 60 working days, but the ACC took 251 days to do so.

Many bureaucrats, including the then Cabinet secretary, were involved but not implicated in the case. Charge sheet against Mr Nizami was proved "mala fide".

Besides, "due process was not followed in approving the submission of charge sheet in the case," the defence submitted.

Responding to a question, Barrister Razzak said he hopes that Mr Nizami would be released "soon".

Mr Nizami has also been accused in the Barapukuria graft case filed by the ACC on February 26. One of Mr Nizami's lawyers told the news agency that the Jamaat Ameer was not yet shown arrested in connection with that case.

On September 2, the ACC filed the Gatco case against detained former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, her younger son Mr Arafat Rahman Koko and 11 others for alleged corruption in awarding an impugned container-handling deal to Gatco.