SC upholds bail for Mirza Abbas

The Supreme Court yesterday upheld a High Court verdict that granted bail to BNP leader Mirza Abbas in a corruption case, clearing the way for his release from jail.

A four-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha dismissed an appeal filed by Anti Corruption Commission against the HC verdict.

Abbas' lawyer Sagir Hossain Leon told The Daily Star that there was no legal bar to his client's release from the custody following the SC order.

Abbas was sent to jail on January 6 when he surrendered to the lower court in connection with the case.

ACC filed the case against Mirza Abbas, housing and public works  minister of the then BNP-led four-party alliance government, with Shahbagh Police Station on March 6, 2014 on the charge of causing the state a loss of Tk 16 crore by allocating seven acres of Rajuk's land to a journalists' cooperative society at a lower rate.

Following a petition filed by Abbas, the HC on March 9 granted him bail in the case.