Staff Correspondent
Dhaka: The Supreme Court has upheld the acquittal of BNP’s acting chairman Tarique Rahman, former state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar, and all other defendants in the much-discussed August 21 grenade attack case. On Thursday, a six-member appellate bench led by Chief Justice Syed Refat Ahmed dismissed the state’s appeal and delivered the verdict.
On August 21, 2004, a deadly grenade attack on an Awami League anti-terrorism rally at Bangabandhu Avenue in Dhaka killed 24 people and injured hundreds. Among the dead was Awami League leader Ivy Rahman.
Earlier, during the Awami League government, a lower court had sentenced 19 people, including Babar, to death, handed life imprisonment to 19 others, including Tarique Rahman, and sentenced several police and army officials to different jail terms. However, on December 1 last year, in a changed political context, the High Court acquitted all defendants and dismissed the death references.
After hearing the state’s appeal, the Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the High Court’s verdict. However, it removed one portion of the High Court’s full judgment, which had recommended reinvestigation of the case.
The court observed that while the grenade attack was one of the most heinous and tragic incidents in the country’s history, the investigation into the case was neither proper nor independent.
Deputy Attorney General Abdullah Al Mahmud represented the state, while senior lawyers SM Shahjahan and Mohammad Shishir Monir argued for the defense.
With this ruling, the previous verdict of death and life sentences handed down by the lower court against Tarique Rahman, Babar, and others stands nullified.