The High Court (HC) on Sunday issued a rule asking the authorities concerned to explain why former chief election commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal should not be granted bail.
The HC bench, comprising Justice Md Atoar Rahman and Justice Biswajit Debnath, issued the rule on Sunday. The order follows a bail petition filed by the former CEC after the Dhaka Metropolitan Court had previously rejected his application.
Awal was arrested by the Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) on 25 June last year from the capital’s Moghbazar area. He has been in jail since 26 June, when a court granted a three-day remand for his interrogation.
The case against him was filed on 22 June last year at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station by Salah Uddin Khan, a member of the BNP Executive Committee.
The lawsuit was filed against the election commissions led by Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad, KM Nurul Huda, and Kazi Habibul Awal, who were responsible for conducting the 10th, 11th, and 12th parliamentary elections.
According to the case details, the accused are alleged to have deprived the public of their voting rights through farcical elections, including the practice of “voting at night.”
