No bar for release of Rana Plaza owner Sohel

The High Court on Thursday granted bail to Rana Plaza owner Sohel Rana in a murder case filed in connection with the death of 1,138 garment workers after the building collapsed in 2013.

The bench of Justice Md Akram Hossain Chowdhury and Justice Shahed Nuruddin gave the verdict upholding a previous rule in favour of Sohel Rana’s bail in the case.

Sohel Rana’s lawyer Kamrul Islam said, “Sohel Rana is on bail in all other cases. Now if the state does not go to the Appellate Division Chamber Court and take a stay order on the bail order, there is no obstacle to his release.”

However, Deputy Attorney General Mohiuddin Dewan said the state will challenge the bail order in the chamber court.

He said the case is now in the deposition stage with a Dhaka court. Of the over 500 prosecution witnesses in the case, 35 have testified before the court.

On November 12, 2020, Sohel Rana’s bail application was rejected in the lower court in the case. Then he applied for bail in the High Court.

Earlier, on March 1, 2021, the High Court issued a ruling on his bail and the High Court on Thursday gave the verdict after the final hearing on the rule.

The shoddily constructed commercial building came crashing down on the morning of April 24, 2013, leaving 1,138 people dead at Savar on the outskirts of the capital.

In June 2015, Criminal Investigation Department (CID) submitted two separate charge sheets -- one for murder and the other for building code violation against 42 accused, including building owner Sohel Rana.

Sohel Rana, his parents – Abdul Khaleque and Morjina Begum – and 34 others were charged with causing the death of the workers while four others were accused of sheltering Rana and helping him flee.

In 2016, two separate Dhaka courts framed charges against 42 accused, including Sohel Rana and his parents, in two cases.

The two cases are pending with Dhaka District and Sessions Judges Court and Dhaka Additional Chief Judicial Magistrates Court.