Coronavirus holiday halts release of many despite bail

Many inmates were not released as their bail orders did not reach the prison authorities due to the 10-day public holiday in place from March 26 over corona scare, lawyers and jail officials told New Age Monday.  

Lawyers said that many others who had got anticipatory bails are hiding as their bail orders did not reach the police stations due to the on-going holidays.

They said that many directives issued by the High Court Division before the government declared the public holidays were not implemented as the authorities have not received the court orders.           

A bench officer told New Age on Monday that he could not write bail orders for at least 70 inmates who were granted bails on March 25, the last working day.           

He said that he also could not write the anticipatory bail orders for many others due to the corona holidays.

Supreme Court lawyer ABM Noor-A-Alam Uzzal told New Age Monday that his client Shaon Khan, 22, was not released from the Dhaka Central Jail though the HC had granted him bail on March 24.

He said that a vacation bench of Justice Jahangir Hossain and Justice Md. Riaz Uddin Khan granted six months’ bail to Shaon of Dohar arrested in a narcotic case 18 months back. 

He said that his client’s bail order was not written as neither the judges nor the bench officers came to the court due to the holidays.

Dhaka Central Jail’s senior superintendent Iqbal Kabir Chowdhury told New Age that no  inmate could be released before getting their bail orders. 

Lawyer Ishrat Hasan said that the directive issued on March 23 by the High Court Division to Kurigram police station’s officer-in-charge to record an attempt-to-murder case against former Kurigram deputy commissioner Sultana Parveen, former revenue collector Nazim Uddin, former assistant commissioners Rintu Kumar Chakma and SM Rahatul Islam for torturing, beating and jailing Kurigram journalist Ariful Islam after implicating him in a false case did not reach the OC.

A vacation bench of Justice Md Ashraful Kamal and Justice Sardar Md Rashed Jahangir issued the directive to the Kurigram OC after hearing a writ petition filed by Bangla Tribune’s executive editor Harun Ur Rashid challenging the legality of detaining and jailing Arif.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net