Why Samrat’s bail shouldn’t be cancelled, HC asks

The High Court today (August 30, 2022) issued a rule asking the state and expelled Jubo League leader Ismail Hossain Samrat to explain why the lower court order that granted him bail in a corruption case should not be cancelled.

The court also fixed October 23 for hearing the rule.

The bench of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice Khizir Hayat issued the rule following a criminal revisional application filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) seeking cancellation of the lower court order that recently granted bail to Samrat in a Tk 222 core corruption case.

In the application, the commission said the HC on May 18 cancelled Samrat's bail granted by the lower court and also ordered him to surrender before the lower court concerned in seven days in connection with the case.

On August 10, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court upheld the HC order, but the lower court on August 22 granted bail to Samrat in violation of the SC order.

The lower court has granted bail to Samrat on health ground though he is not physically sick as he staged a show down after getting released from jail, ACC lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan told The Daily Star citing the criminal petition. 

The lawyer said Samrat has made a "false statement before the lower court that he was very sick and receiving treatment in the ICU in a hospital, but he is moving around like a healthy man.

Therefore, the lower court has wrongly granted bail to Samrat in the case, he added.

Samrat staged a show-down on August 26 while appearing in public for the first time in three days after being released on bail.

On that day, he went to Dhanmondi 32 with thousands of Jubo League leaders and workers to pay respect to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.