The Appellate Division of Bangladesh’s Supreme Court has upheld a High Court verdict that acquitted BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman, former State Minister for Home Affairs Lutfozzaman Babar, and 47 others in two cases related to the 2004 grenade attack on an Awami League rally.
A six-member bench of the apex court, led by Chief Justice Dr Syed Refaat Ahmed, delivered the ruling on Thursday (September 4), affirming the High Court’s decision from December last year which nullified the earlier convictions by a lower court.
Defence lawyers Advocate SM Shahjahan and Advocate Mohammad Shishir Monir represented Tarique Rahman and Lutfozzaman Babar during the proceedings.
The verdict came after the Appellate Division had concluded hearings on appeals submitted by the state against the High Court’s judgment. The date for the final decision was set on August 21, following the conclusion of those hearings.
On December 1, 2024, the High Court overturned the trial court’s decision that had sentenced 19 individuals to death — including Babar and former Deputy Education Minister Abdus Salam Pintu — and handed life imprisonment to 19 others, including Tarique Rahman.
Eleven more received varying jail terms and fines. The High Court’s acquittal followed extensive hearings on death references and appeals lodged by the convicts.
Subsequently, the state challenged that acquittal, submitting appeals to the Appellate Division seeking to reinstate the original convictions.
The grenade attack occurred on August 21, 2004, on Bangabandhu Avenue in Dhaka, targeting an Awami League rally where Sheikh Hasina, then opposition leader, was speaking. Twin cases — one under the murder statute and the other under the Explosive Substances Act — were filed at Motijheel police station.
A special tribunal, the Dhaka Speedy Trial Tribunal-1, issued its verdict in the case on October 10, 2018, years after a fresh investigation was launched in 2007 during the caretaker administration.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) charged 22 individuals in 2008, stating that the attack had been orchestrated by extremist elements with the intent to assassinate Sheikh Hasina and cripple the Awami League leadership.
Further probes were conducted after the Awami League came to power, culminating in a supplementary charge sheet that named 30 individuals, including Tarique Rahman, as accused.
The High Court began reviewing the death reference and appeals on October 31, before eventually acquitting all 49 accused.
SMS/
