Abbas' bail petitions sent to CJ

A High Court bench yesterday sent the bail petitions of Mirza Abbas in connection with two criminal cases and the split orders on the pleas to the chief justice for a decision.
The bench of Justice Quamrul Islam Siddique and Justice Gobinda Chandra Tagore forwarded the pleas and split orders to the chief justice office around 4:30pm, Kabir Ahmed, a secretary to the chief justice, told The Daily Star.
Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha was yet to assign any new bench for the final hearing and disposal of the petitions, since he was not in the Supreme Court office yesterday afternoon, Kabir said.
The secretary could not say when the chief justice would refer the bail petitions of the BNP-blessed mayoral candidate to an HC bench for their final hearing and disposal.  
On April 15, Justice Quamrul granted three weeks' anticipatory bail to Abbas in two vandalism and arson cases, while Justice Gobinda rejected the bail petitions and ordered the accused BNP leader to surrender before the lower court concerned immediately.
One of the cases was filed with Paltan police on December 29 last year and another with Motijheel police on January 4 on charges of vandalising and setting fire to vehicles. 
On April 21, another HC bench of Justice Md Moinul Islam Chowdhury and Justice JBM Hassan fixed April 27 for hearing the BNP leader's another bail plea in a corruption case.
Abbas, BNP's Dhaka city convener, currently stands accused in at least 60 cases. He is also facing an arrest warrant issued in connection with a graft case lodged by the Anti-Corruption Commission.