Former minister MA Mannan receives bail

“The court set the bond at Tk 20,000 in consideration of his physical condition,” Mannan’s lawyer says

Former planning minister and Sunamganj-3 MP MA Mannan has received bail.

Judge Hemayet Uddin of the Sunamganj District and Sessions Court accepted the bail petition by the defence on Wednesday afternoon, said the Awami League leader’s lawyer Shafiqul Islam.

A bail hearing for Mannan had previously been held at 11am but was interrupted when lawyers from both sides started a commotion. The judge then left the court amid the ruckus.

Another bail hearing was convened in the afternoon. After the hearing, the judge made the bail decision around 2:30pm.

On the night of Sept 20, Mannan was arrested from Shantiganj Upazila’s Hizalbari area in a case over an attack on students and the public in Sunamganj during the Anti-discrimination Student Movement.

He was sent to the Sunamganj Sadar Hospital from Sunamganj Jail on Saturday after he fell sick. He was then transferred from there to Sylhet’s Osmani Medical College Hospital. A six-member board was formed to oversee his treatment.

Asked about the commotion in court, Advocate Sherenur Ali, representing the plaintiff, said: “Just as the judge came to the court, there was a commotion. We said that this case was brought to this court through irregularities. The plaintiff side did not hear about it. We did not want a hearing on it today.”

“As in other cases, we requested the court to set another date for the case at a later time. But the court did not listen to us.”

MA Mannan’s lawyer Shafiqul said: “Our client is elderly and sick. The court set the bond at Tk 20,000 in consideration of his physical condition.”