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“He has been sent to a Sylhet jail as other cases are pending against him. He will later be transferred to Dhaka,” a court police official says
Published : 17 Sep 2024, 12:24 PM
Retired Supreme Court justice AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik has received bail in a case under the Passport Act for ‘illegally trying to enter India’.
Sylhet Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Judge Anjan Kanti Das accepted the bail petition at 9:30am on Tuesday, said the court’s police Inspector Md Jamshed Ali.
“When Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik’s lawyer petitioned the court for bail, the court accepted it.”
“He has been sent to a Sylhet jail as other cases are pending against him. He will later be transferred to Dhaka.”
The ex-justice, a vocal supporter of the Awami League government, became a topic of discussion several times for his comments. He went missing for a time after the Sheikh Hasina-led government fell on Aug 5.
Then, on the night of Aug 23, he was arrested from the border area of Sylhet’s Kanaighat by Border Guard Bangladesh.
The following day, Sylhet Metropolitan Magistrate Alamgir Hossain showed Manik arrested under Section 54 and sent him to jail.
Police then filed a case over an ‘attempt to enter India illegally’ under the Passport Act at Kanaighat Police Station.
Witnesses said as Manik was being escorted to the court, a crowd hurled eggs and shoes at him.
Some youths also attempted to assault him, but police ensured his security and brought him into the courtroom safely.
That night, Manik was admitted to Sylhet’s MAG Osmani Hospital. There, he underwent a surgery. On Thursday, after his health improved, the hospital handed him over to prison authorities.
Manik, who taught law at the University of London, began his career as a lawyer in the High Court in 1978.
In 1996, during the Awami League government, he was appointed as deputy attorney general. In 2001, the government appointed him as an additional judge of the High Court, but he was later dismissed when the BNP formed government.
After the Awami League returned to power in 2009, he was reinstated as a judge following a High Court ruling. In 2013, he was elevated to the Appellate Division.
Before his retirement in 2015, Manik was frequently in the headlines for clashing with the then-chief justice Surendra Kumar Sinha. He even lodged complaints against Sinha with the president.
After retirement, Manik regularly appeared on television talk shows and took part in social movements.
Two cases have been filed against Manik for ‘offensive statements’ against BNP founder Ziaur Rahman in Dhaka and Noakhali.
