Virtual court hearings: Around 21,000 people get bail in 10 days

A total of 20,938 people -- including 287 children -- who were accused under criminal charges, have secured bail from the lower courts across the country in the past 10 working days.

Of the 20,938, a total of 1,477 accused secured bail across the country yesterday, Supreme Court spokesman Md Saifur Rahman told The Daily Star today.

More than 300 courts have granted bail to the accused after holding virtual hearings of the petitions filed seeking bail in the cases against them, said Saifur Rahman.

He said the subordinate courts have disposed of a total of 33,286 bail petitions filed by the accused.

Yesterday, the courts have disposed of a total of 3,082 bail petitions, Saifur Rahman added.

He said most of the accused people who were granted bail have already been released from jail.

He said the Supreme Court Special Committee for Child Rights have taken necessary measures in association with UNICEF and the social welfare ministry to release children who were granted bail from the Shishu Unnayan Kendra (Children Development Centre), and helped them reach their guardians.

More than 200 children have already been released from the Shishu Unnayan Kendra and were transported by microbuses to their guardians.

Justice Muhammad Imman Ali, a senior judge of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court and chairman of the Supreme Court Special Committee for Child Rights, has been monitoring all issues regarding filing of bail petitions for the detained children and their release, Saifur Rahman added.

The Supreme Court spokesman, however, could not specifically say the types of criminal cases in which the 20,938 people were accused.

The virtual court functions started on May 11 after a gap of 46 days in order to deal with urgent cases.                                                                         

The regular activities of courts across the country, including Appellate and High Court Divisions of the Supreme Court, remained closed since March 26 due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. The nationwide shutdown is scheduled to continue till May 30.                    

On May 10, Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain issued directives for the courts in dealing with urgent cases through using information and communication technology during the shutdown.