Ruling on appeal against Hasina bail Thursday

The Supreme Court Wednesday closed hearing a government appeal against the High Court granting bail to Sheikh Hasina in an extortion case taken under the cover of emergency powers rules and set Thursday for a verdict. A six-strong full-court of the Appellate Division led by chief justice Md. Ruhul Amin heard both sides in the morning before deciding the day for the ruling. On July 30, the High Court granted the detained Awami League chief bail in a Tk 3 crore extortion case and stayed proceedings of the case under the emergency powers rules. The court gave the government two weeks to explain why the extortion case would not be excluded from the jurisdiction of the emergency powers rules. Attorney general Fida M Kamal told the court during the hour-long hearing that began at 9:25am that Hasina's writ petition was related to the emergency powers rules. So it was beyond the jurisdiction of the High Court issuing her bail order without clearing the case from the jurisdiction of the rules, he said. Justice Mohammed Hasan Amin of the Appellate Division Tuesday held a partial hearing of the government's appeal made in the morning. The Appellate Division chamber judge did not stay the High Court order on the bail and the freeze on proceedings of the extortion case. The High Court bench of Justice Shah Abu Nayeem Muminur Rahman and Justice Jubaer Rahman Chowdhury granted bail Monday to the former prime minister who was arrested and detained in the extortion case on July 16. Updates with more details