Khaleda Zia gets permanent bail in two cases

The High Court on Thursday granted permanent bail to BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia in two cases filed on charges of hurting religious sentiment of Muslims and making derogatory comments on Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
The court passed the order as Khaleda did not misuse the ad-interim bail granted by it earlier in the cases.
The HC bench of Justice Jahangir Hossain and Justice Shahed Nuruddin delivered the verdicts after hearing two separate rules in connection with the cases.
So far the BNP chief has secured permanent bail in four out of 37 cases, said her lawyer Kayser Kamal.
AB Siddique, president of Bangladesh Jananetri Parishad, a pro-Awami League (AL) organisation, filed one case with a Dhaka court on October 21, 2014, claiming that on October 14 of the same year, Khaleda at a programme at the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh had said "the ruling party's (AL) professed secularism was nothing but a sham".
The plaintiff said her remarks hurt the religious sentiments of Muslims.
In another defamation case filed with a Dhaka court on January 25, 2017, AB Siddique claimed that Khaleda Zia at a programme at the Engineers Institution had said Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had not wanted independence of Bangladesh, rather he (Sheikh Mujib) had wanted to be Prime Minister of Pakistan.

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