Mainul sent to jail again
A Dhaka court yesterday again sent former caretaker government adviser barrister Mainul Hosein to jail after rejecting his bail petition in a case filed for defaming journalist Masuda Bhatti in October last year.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Mohammad Tofazzal Hossain passed the order after Mainul through his lawyer sought bail in the case lodged by Masuda and surrendered before the court.
In the order, the magistrate said the bail petition was rejected, considering the gravity of the statements Mainul made on electronic and print media.
During yesterday’s hearing, Mainul’s lawyer said the Supreme Court on August 18 asked his client to appear before the court concerned within two weeks. As per the directive, his client surrendered before the court.
On October 16 last year, Mainul hurled abusive words at Masuda and called her “a person of loose moral” during a live talk show at a private television channel.
Following the incident, Masuda on October 21 filed a case with the Court of Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Muhammad Asaduzzaman Noor in Dhaka.
The other case was lodged by convener of Jamalpur Jubo Mohila League Farzana Yasmin Lita with the Court of Senior Judicial Magistrate Soleiman Kabir the same day.
Both the courts in Dhaka and Jamalpur issued arrest warrants for Mainul. But the High Court later on that day granted him bail for five months in the two cases.
On October 23, the Detective Branch of police arrested Mainul at the capital’s Uttara in a defamation case filed against him in Rangpur. The next day, a Dhaka court sent him to jail after detectives produced him before it.
As many as 23 cases were lodged against him across the country over the incident.
On January 13, the HC granted him ad-interim bail for six months in 11 cases.
It also stayed the trial proceedings of 15 defamation cases for the next six months and issued separate rules asking the government to explain why the case proceedings against him should not be stopped.
On January 27, Mainul was released on bail after he had spent three months in jail.
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