High Court grants bail to Bidisha Siddique, clearing way for release

The High Court granted bail to Bidisha Siddique, former wife of late president and Jatiya Party founder HM Ershad, in a fraud case, clearing the way for her release, her lawyers said.

A bench of Justices Md Khairul Alam and Md Rafizul Islam passed the order on Sunday (September 6) after hearing Bidisha’s bail petition.

Bidisha was sentenced to two years’ rigorous imprisonment by a Dhaka metropolitan magistrate on May 20 in a case filed over the alleged fraudulent sale of a flat. The court also fined her Tk 10,000, with one month’s imprisonment in default.

As Bidisha was absent from court when the verdict was delivered, a warrant was issued for her arrest.

On August 26, a Dhaka metropolitan magistrate ordered her to be sent to jail after she was produced before the court in connection with the case.

The case was filed by businessman Mosharraf Hossain on February 7, 2008. According to the complaint, Hossain, an importer and trader of sanitary products in Mirpur-10, contacted Bidisha in 2001 to purchase a flat in Baridhara.

The complaint alleged that the two later entered into an agreement for the sale of a flat at President Park in Baridhara for Tk 80 lakh.