SC grants plea against HC judgment in Aug 21 grenade attack cases

The Supreme Court on Sunday granted leave to appeal against the High Court verdict that acquitted all individuals previously convicted by a lower court in connection with the deadly grenade attack on an Awami League rally in the capital on August 21, 2004.

A six-member Appellate Division bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed, passed the order.

Additional Attorneys General Mohammad Abdul Jabber Bhuiyan, Mohammad Arshadur Rouf, and Aneek Rushd Haque represented the state during the hearing. Senior Advocate SM Shahjahan and Advocate Mohammad Shishir Manir appeared for the defence.

On December 1, 2024, the High Court scrapped the lower court’s verdicts in two cases filed under murder and the Explosive Substances Act. The High Court delivered its judgment after reviewing death references, criminal appeals, and jail appeals in the cases.

“Death reference is rejected, all appeals are allowed, all rules are made absolute,” read the identical short orders pronounced by the High Court bench comprising Justice AKM Asaduzzaman and Justice Syed Enayet Hossain.

Speaking to reporters after the verdict, defence counsel Advocate Shishir Manir said the High Court found the lower court proceedings illegal, citing that no eyewitnesses were examined during the trial. “All the witnesses presented had only heard about the incident,” he said.

He also stated that the trial court based its verdict primarily on a confessional statement by Mufti Abdul Hannan, which the High Court deemed inadmissible, as it had allegedly been obtained under duress.

The grenade attack on August 21, 2004, resulted in the deaths of at least 24 people and left scores injured during an Awami League rally.