The Appellate Division has announced that the hearing on the state’s appeal against the acquittal of all accused, including BNP’s acting chairman Tarique Rahman, in the August 21 grenade attack case, will return to the court's cause list on May 4.
The decision was made by a 6-member Appellate Division bench led by Justice Ashfaqul Islam, after the defense brought the matter to the court’s attention earlier today.
According to case documents, a High Court bench comprising Justice AKM Asaduzzaman and Justice Syed Enayet Hossain acquitted all the accused, including Tarique Rahman, on December 1.
Prior to that, on November 21, the hearing of the appeals filed by the accused seeking acquittal, along with the death reference, concluded in the High Court .
Earlier, on October 10, 2018, the trial court sentenced 19 individuals, including former state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar and BNP leader Abdus Salam Pintu, to death.
Another 19, including BNP’s acting chairman Tarique Rahman, were handed life imprisonment.
The grenade attack occurred during an Awami League rally on Bangabandhu Avenue in Dhaka in 2004, killing 24 people and injuring more than 400 others