Hours after granting permanent bail to BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia in a defamation case, a High Court bench yesterday withdrew its verdict.

The case was filed for making derogatory remarks about the number of Liberation War martyrs and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

The bench of Justice Md Abu Zafor Siddique and Justice ASM Abdul Mobin granted the bail around noon.

The court withdrew its judgement around 2:30pm after Deputy Attorney General Samira Tarannum Rabeya appeared before it and said she could not place arguments on behalf of the state as her office had no relevant record of the case.

Samira added that she was not in the courtroom during the hearing as she was busy with the Supreme Court Bar Association election.

Besides, Khaleda is now on bail in the case, and the bail will continue until January next year, she said.  

The HC bench then recalled the judgment and said it would hold a hearing within a week after reopening of the court following the upcoming annual vacation.

The SC's appellate and HC divisions will go on a two-week annual vacation from Sunday and will reopen on March 29.

Samira told The Daily Star that another HC bench in January this year extended the bail of Khaleda for a year in the defamation case lodged in Narail, and the bail would expire in January next year.

Therefore, there is no urgency of granting permanent bail to Khaleda, she said, adding that the BNP chief's lawyer AJ Mohammad Ali was present during the judgment recall. 

On August 12, 2018, the HC granted a six-month bail to Khaleda in the defamation case and also issued a rule asking the the government to explain why she could not be granted permanent bail. The hearing on the rule was yesterday.

Later, the court extended her ad-interim bail several times.      

On December 21, 2015, the BNP chief at a discussion at the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh, raised questions about the actual number of Liberation War martyrs, saying, "There are controversies over how many were martyred in the Liberation War. There are also many books and documents on the controversies."

Reacting to Khaleda's remarks, Raihan Farooque Imam of Narail's Naragati filed the case with the cognisance court on December 24 that year.

The BNP chief landed in jail on February 8, 2018, after a special court sentenced her to five years in the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case.

On October 30 that year, the HC enhanced her punishment to 10 years in the case after dismissing her appeal.

The same special court jailed Khaleda and three others for seven years in the Zia Charitable Trust corruption case on October 29 that year.  

The HC rejected her bail petition three times in the graft case and the SC once.