Farroque gets bail in defamation case

21 April 2010, 18:00 PM

Court Correspondent

A Dhaka court yesterday granted bail to Opposition Chief Whip Zainul Abdin Farroque in a defamation case filed against him for making derogatory remarks about the prime minister's son Sajeeb Wazed Joy. Metropolitan Magistrate AKM Emdadul Haque passed the order upon a bond of Tk 10,000 with two guarantors after Farroque along with his lawyers appeared before the court and sought bail in the case. On March 24, the High Court directed the BNP leader to appear before the lower court within eight weeks, after refusing his bail petition in the case filed by Advocate Moshiur Malek, president of Bangabandhu Foundation. On March 23, another Dhaka court issued an arrest warrant against him hours after the case was filed. In his complaint, Malek said Farroque alleged at a press conference on March 12 that Joy has been doing illegal Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) business from abroad, causing a loss of Tk 1500 crore to the state exchequer. The news was published in newspapers, and different electronic media broadcast the press briefing that tarnished Joy's image at home and abroad, Malek said. Local Awami League leaders had filed several defamation cases with Shariatpur, Lalmonirhat, Pabna, Comilla, Faridpur and Chittagong district courts.