Siraj, Habibur granted bail

A High Court (HC) bench yesterday granted three months bail to former BNP minister Shahjahan Siraj in a tax evasion case.
In another move yesterday, the Supreme Court granted detained Awami League (AL) lawmaker Habibur Rahman Mollah ad-interim bail for six months in a corruption case filed against him by the Anti-corruption Commission (ACC).
Meanwhile, a HC bench comprising Justice Mir Hasmat Ali and Justice Shamim Hasnain yesterday directed controversial businessman Obaidul Karim to surrender before the trial court within four weeks in connection with four corruption cases filed against him by the ACC.
The bench also asked the law enforcers not to harass or arrest Obaidul within four weeks in these four cases.
SHAHAJAHAN SIRAJ
Shahjahan Siraj yesterday surrendered before a HC bench seeking bail in the cases filed against him.
The bench comprising Justice Mirza Hussain Haider and Justice Borhan Uddin granted Shahjahan Siraj bail in a tax evasion case filed against him by the National Board of Revenue (NBR). He was sentenced to eight years' imprisonment in this case on August 29, 2007.
The court also issued a rule upon the government to show cause as to why the trial court verdict convicting the petitioner should not be declared illegal.
HABIBUR RAHMAN
A four-member full bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice MM Ruhul Amin stayed for six months the High Court (HC) verdict that permitted the ACC to proceed with corruption charges against Habibur Rahman Mollah.
Rahman's lawyer said that there now remains no legal bar to his release as he has already obtained bail in another case pending against him.
Detained Habibur Rahamn Mollah won the Dhaka-5 seat in the December 29 election.
OBAIDUL KARIM
Fugitive Obaidul Karim also surrendered before an HC bench yesterday after returning to the country the day before. He sought bail in four cases.
Karim has seven cases filed against him, of which the High Court earlier stayed proceedings of three cases. He has also been sentenced to imprisonments of different tenures in four graft cases against him.