The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has scheduled a hearing for Tuesday on the government`s leave-to-appeal petition against the High Court verdict that acquitted all accused in the August 21 grenade attack case, including former State Minister for Home Affairs Lutfozzaman Babar (previously sentenced to death) and BNP`s Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman (previously sentenced to life imprisonment).
The hearing date was set by an Appellate Bench led by Justice Md. Ashfaqul Islam on Monday (May 26).
The grenade attack occurred on August 21, 2004, during an Awami League rally on Bangabandhu Avenue.
Then opposition leader Sheikh Hasina narrowly escaped, but 24 people, including Ivy Rahman, were killed, and over 300 were injured.
Following the incident, two cases were filed under murder and explosives laws.
In 2008, an initial chargesheet named 22 individuals including BNP leaders and HuJI members. After a further investigation ordered in 2009, a supplementary chargesheet in 2011 increased the number of accused to 52.
Of these, three had already been executed in separate cases, leaving 49 active defendants at trial.
In October 2018, the trial court sentenced 19 individuals to death, including Babar and key HuJI operatives, and 19 others, including Tarique Rahman, to life imprisonment. Several former security officials received shorter prison terms.
The High Court later acquitted all accused in a verdict delivered on December 1 the previous year.
The full text of the verdict was released on December 19. The state subsequently filed appeals seeking permission to challenge the acquittal, and these were sent to the full Appellate Bench on March 13.
The upcoming hearing is a critical step in determining whether the Supreme Court will allow further appeals against the High Court’s decision.
