Bail for Latif Siddiqui in 10 more cases
Tuesday, 23 June 2015
The High Court (HC) has stayed ten more cases against former minister Abdul Latif Siddiqui over his comments on Holy Hajj and Tabligh Jamaat. The bench of Justices Md Nizamul Huq and Farid Ahmed heard the matter on Tuesday and granted bail to Latif Siddiqui in the cases filed with courts in Dhaka, Chapainawabganj, Lakhsmipur and Chittagong. Latif Siddiqui, a former Awami League presidium member and MP from a Tangail constituency, however, will not be released from jail as he is shown arrested in five more similar cases, which accuse him of ‘hurting religious sentiments’. The court stayed the proceedings of the ten cases for six months and granted interim bail. It also issued a rule asking why these cases would not be scrapped, and ordered the plaintiffs as well as the government to come up with explanations by four weeks. Earlier, the courts of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate and District Judge had denied bail to the former textile minister on these cases. “Altogether Latif Siddiqui has secured bails in 17 cases against him. But he will be not released from jail as five other cases are still pending,” Deputy Attorney General Moniruzzaman kabir told bdnews24.com.