SC upholds HC order on bail for Afroza Abbas

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The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court Thursday sustained the High Court (HC) order that had granted interim bail to jailed Afroza Abbas, wife of ex-housing and public works minister Mirza Abbas of BNP, in two tax-evasion cases.
A six-member appellate bench, headed by Chief Justice M Fazlul Karim, passed the orders after dismissing a dual petition filed by the government against the High Court (HC) bail orders.
On April 29, an HC division bench granted bail to Afroza Abbas upon her pending appeals against the trial court verdicts.
The bail orders remain valid until disposal of the appeals pending with the High Court.
On April 11, a Dhaka court sent fugitive-convict Afroza Abbas to jail after she had surrendered to it in connection with the two tax evasion cases.
On September 2, 2007, the trial court sentenced Afroza to 16 years' imprisonment and fined her Tk 49.2 million in absentia in connection with the two cases filed by the National Board of Revenue (NBR).
In addition, it had also ordered the confiscation of her property worth about Tk 46 million to the state.
Barrister Rafique-ul Huq, assisted by advocate Ahsanul Karim appeared for Afroza Abbas, while Attorney General Mahbubey Alam along with his top deputies MK Rahman and Murad Reza stood for the government.