The High Court (HC) on Thursday upheld the trial court’s order granting bail to bdnews24.com Editor-in-Chief Toufique Imrose Khalidi in a case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) accusing the journalist of amassing wealth illegally.
The HC bench of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice Khizir Hayat passed the order after disposing of the rule seeking cancellation of the bail order.
However, he will have to seek permission from the trial court for going abroad.
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Senior lawyer Yusuf Hussain Humayun, advocate Shahriar Kabir and barrister Mahbub Shafiq appeared for Khalidi in the court while Advocate Khurshid Alam Khan represented the ACC.
ACC Deputy Director Gulshan Anowar filed the case on July 30 in 2020.
According to the case statement, Khalidi has Tk42 crore in different bank accounts which have no legal source.
On August 26, the High Court granted anticipatory bail to Khalidi for eight weeks.
Later, the ACC filed the petition with the Appellate Division challenging the HC order. However, the Appellate Division upheld the HC order on September 21.
On October 20, Khalidi surrendered to Dhaka Senior Special Judge's Court and sought bail. After the hearing, the court granted him interim bail till November 25.
On November 25, the court granted him permanent bail.
Later on December 8, 2020, following ACC’s petition seeking cancellation of the bail order, the HC issued a rule questioning why the bail granted to bdnews24.com editor by the trial court should not be cancelled.
