The High Court on Monday granted pre-arrest bail to human rights defender and Supreme Court lawyer ZI Khan Panna in an attempted murder case.
A bench of Justice AKM Asaduzzaman and Justice Syed Enayet Hossain passed the order following a brief hearing on Panna鈥檚 petition.
The bail will remain effective until the submission of the police investigation report, Panna鈥檚 junior advocate, Shahinuzzaman Shahin, said.
After the High Court order, Panna told reporters at the court that such cases would not be able to silence him from speaking out against injustice.
鈥楢s far as I know, I was implicated in this attempted murder case by someone driven by personal motives, not political ones,鈥� he said.
He alleged that someone from his locality at Muladi in Barishal was involved in including his name in the case.
The case, filed by Md Baker with Khilgaon police station on October 17, listed Panna as the 94th accused, out of 180.
Other accused in the case include political figures, former high-ranking police officials, members of the Rapid Action Battalion, the Detective Branch of the police, and the Border Guard Bangladesh.
On Monday, Baker, however, submitted an application to Khilgaon police station officer-in-charge Md Daud Hossain requesting the OC to investigate the case by dropping the name of Panna.
Baker is from Mehendiganj in Barishal.
He claimed that the Supreme Court lawyer was mistakenly implicated in the case due to the former鈥檚 ignorance.
The OC instructed sub-inspector Imran Hossain to take appropriate steps.
SI Imran later sent the case document to the Dhaka chief metropolitan magistrate鈥檚 court for taking the next course of action.
The case related to a July 19 incident during a student-led protest at Shukir Ali Garment crossing in Khilgaon, Dhaka, where Baker鈥檚 son, Ahadul Islam, was allegedly injured by gunfire.
The complaint alleged that members of law enforcement agencies and Awami League activists opened fire on the demonstrators.
Rights groups and legal professionals, including Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust, strongly condemned the charges against Panna.
Panna is the chairman of the rights organisation Ain o Salish Kendra and a trustee of BLAST.
Senior lawyers Shahdeen Malik, Ahsanul Karim, and Mohammad Hossain, along with Panna鈥檚 junior advocates, represented him during the bail hearing.
