The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has scheduled September 4 to deliver its final verdict on the appeal challenging a High Court order that acquitted all convicts, including BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman, in the high-profile August 21 grenade attack case.
A six-member bench, led by Chief Justice Dr. Syed Refaat Ahmed, set the date on Thursday following the conclusion of the appeal hearings.
The High Court had overturned the verdict of a lower court on December 1 last year, acquitting all convicts, including Tarique Rahman and former State Minister for Home Affairs Lutfozzaman Babar, in two cases related to the grenade attack.
The state filed an appeal against the High Court verdict on March 19, 2025. The Supreme Court began hearings on the petition in mid-August and initially set August 13 for arguments. After completing hearings over the past few days, the court fixed September 4 for delivering its verdict.
The grenade attack, one of the most shocking political attacks in Bangladesh’s history, took place on August 21, 2004, on Dhaka’s Bangabandhu Avenue.
On October 10, 2018, the Dhaka Speedy Trial Tribunal-1 delivered its judgment in one of the cases concerning murder and explosives. The tribunal sentenced 19 accused, including former State Minister Lutfozzaman Babar and former Deputy Education Minister Abdus Salam Pintu, to death. Another 19 accused, including Tarique Rahman, received life imprisonment, while 11 others were handed various prison terms and fines.
The case was subsequently transferred to the High Court in 2018 as a death reference case.
