Court Correspondent

The High Court (HC) on Sunday overturned the lower court verdicts in two cases related to the 21 August grenade attack, acquitting all convicts, including BNP Acting Chairperson Tarique Rahman and former State Minister for Home Affairs Lutfozzaman Babar.

The HC bench of Justice AKM Asaduzzaman and Justice Syed Enayet Hossain delivered the judgment after hearing the death references and appeals related to the two cases filed over the grenade attack on Awami League rally in 2004.

The court also declared the whole trial proceedings of the case illegal, including the charge sheet.

The grenade attack, a shocking incident, occurred on Dhaka's Bangabandhu Avenue on 21 August 2004.

On 10 October 2018, a Dhaka Speedy Trial Tribunal issued a verdict in one of the two cases (pertaining to murder and explosives).

The tribunal sentenced 19 accused, including former state minister for home affairs Lutfozzaman Babar and former deputy education minister Abdus Salam Pintu, to death.

Besides, 19 others, including BNP Acting Chairperson Tarique Rahman, were given life imprisonment, while 11 received varying prison terms and fines.

The judgment was transferred to the High Court in 2018 as a death reference case, with hearings on the death reference and appeals beginning on 31 October this year.

The grenade attack on 21 August 2004 prompted the filing of two cases—one for murder and another for explosives—with Motijheel Police Station.

In 2008, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) charged 22 individuals, alleging that the attack was orchestrated by militants to assassinate Sheikh Hasina and render the Awami League leaderless.

Later, under the Awami League government, a supplementary charge sheet was submitted, implicating 30 more individuals, including Tarique Rahman.