The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has upheld the High Court’s verdict acquitting all accused in the 21 August grenade attack case, including BNP’s acting chairman Tarique Rahman, who had been sentenced to life imprisonment, and former State Minister for Home Affairs Lutfozzaman Babar, who had received the death penalty.

After hearing the state’s appeal against the High Court’s acquittal of Tarique Rahman and other accused, a six-member bench of the Appellate Division, led by Chief Justice Dr Syed Refaat Ahmed, delivered its verdict on Thursday (4 September).

The appeal proceedings began on 17 July based on the state’s submissions and continued on 31 July, 19 August, 20 August, and 21 August. The hearing concluded on 21 August, and the verdict was scheduled for 4 September.

Earlier, on 12 January this year, the High Court had acquitted all accused, including Tarique Rahman and Lutfozzaman Babar, overturning their life and death sentences handed down by the lower court. The High Court bench, composed of Justices AKM Asaduzzaman and Syed Enayet Hossain, ruled that the trial of the 21 August grenade attack case was unlawful and that the charge sheet used by the lower court was legally invalid.

The lower court had, on 10 October 2018, sentenced Lutfozzaman Babar, former Deputy Minister Abdus Salam Pintu, and 17 others to death, while Tarique Rahman, BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s political secretary Haris Chowdhury, BNP leader Kazi Shah Mofazzal Hossain Kaykobad, and 16 others received life imprisonment.

The grenade attack took place on the afternoon of 21 August 2004 at an Awami League rally on Bangabandhu Avenue in Dhaka. The attack killed 24 people, including Awami League Women Affairs Secretary Ivy Rahman, and injured several hundred, including party leader Sheikh Hasina. Many victims lost limbs and were permanently disabled.