BNP leaders have to surrender: Rafiq

Legal experts are of varied opinions about the fate of some BNP bigwigs as police sought arrest warrant from the trial court after pressing charges against them when they are awaiting a decision of the Supreme Court on their anticipatory bail petition.

Some of them said the petition for ad-interim anticipatory bail from the High Court has become infructuous or ineffective and it has become a compulsion for the accused to surrender before the trial court.

The chief justice Thursday formed a third bench at the High Court to hear their bail petition while the trial court fixed Sunday for hearing the charges against them and also the petition of police seeking arrest warrant.

The bench of justices Mainul Islam Chowdhury and Nazrul Islam Talukder last week gave split orders on granting the BNP leaders bail in connection with a case filed for violence during 29 April?s countrywide general strike.

?The chief justice has formed the single-judge High Court bench with Justice Anwar-ul Haque to hear the bail petition of the BNP leaders. The bench will hold the hearing on Sunday,? chief justice?s secretary Kabir Ahmed told journalists.

Police yesterday pressed charges against 45 leaders of the BNP-led opposition alliance, including BNP?s acting secretary-general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.

Asked about the present legal status of this politically important case, noted legal expert barrister Rafiqul Huq said the BNP leaders will have to surrender to the trial court since police submitted charge sheet in the case.

?Ad-interim anticipatory bail is always granted before the filing of either police reports or charge sheets. Police have already filed the charge sheet in this case. So, the order passed by a judge granting anticipatory bail has no longer efficacy,? he told daily sun.

?One of the judges of the High Court bench granted bail while another judge denied, and so the case was supposed to be sent to a third bench. But now, after the filing of the charge sheet, the order of the High Court judge granting ad-interim anticipatory bail has no effectiveness. So, there is no reason to send the case to a third bench. The petition has become infructuous,? he explained.

Attorney-General Mahbubey Alam, who also suggested that the BNP leaders surrender before the trial court immediately, however, has a different opinion about sending the case to a third court.

He said it was still necessary. ?It is academic. The chief justice needs to send the orders to a third bench to determine which order was correct,? he told daily sun.

?But that does not mean that the accused need not go to the trial court. There is no opportunity to remain at large after charges have been pressed. They must surrender to the trial court,? the top law officer of the state said.

Barrister Moudud Ahmed, the counsel for the BNP leaders, said the government cannot harass the leaders of the opposition alliance until the third-bench decision.

The leaders also need not surrender by this time as they are awaiting the chief justice?s decision, he said.

On the police prayer for arrest warrant, Moudud quipped it would be fine if the magistrate court issues a warrant. ?The magistrate might be then summoned to appear before the High Court.?

Advocate Subrata Chowdhury said it would not be appropriate for the lower court to issue any order until its disposal in the third bench of the High Court.

Source: daily-sun.com

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