Ivy Secures Bail, Path to Release Cleared
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The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has upheld the High Court’s bail orders for Selina Hayat Ivy, former mayor of Narayanganj City Corporation, in five separate cases, including one involving murder charges. The apex court dismissed the state’s leave to appeal petitions against the High Court’s bail rulings.
In addition, the Appellate Division directed the High Court to resolve rule proceedings concerning five other cases, withdrawing previous stay orders on Ivy’s bail in these matters, which include charges of murder, assault, and obstruction of public duty. This effectively reinstates her bail in these five cases as well.
বিজ্ঞাপন
Legal representatives stated that Ivy’s bail, previously granted by the High Court in these two sets of five cases each, now stands. Consequently, she has secured bail in a total of 10 cases. Ivy had been arrested in 12 cases in total, and she had already obtained bail from the High Court in the remaining two cases. The state had appealed these latter bail orders to the Appellate Division, but these appeals have not yet been listed for hearing.
With bail secured in all 12 cases, lawyers believe there are currently no legal impediments to Ivy’s release from custody. She was arrested from her residence in Narayanganj city on May 9 last year. Investigations into the cases against her are still ongoing, more than a year after her arrest. Initially, police showed her arrested in three murder and two attempted murder cases.
বিজ্ঞাপন
After being denied bail in the lower courts for those five cases, Ivy approached the High Court. The High Court granted her bail in those cases on November 9 last year. The state appealed these decisions to the Appellate Division. Subsequently, on November 12, the Chamber Judge stayed the High Court’s bail orders and sent the state’s appeals to the regular bench of the Appellate Division for hearing. Following hearings, the Appellate Division dismissed five separate leave to appeal petitions today.
Following the initial bail in five cases, Ivy was arrested in another five cases in November last year. Four of these new cases are murder charges filed at Fatullah Police Station, and the fifth, filed at Narayanganj Sadar Police Station, pertains to assault and obstruction of public duty.
Ivy was again denied bail in the lower courts for this second set of five cases and subsequently filed applications with the High Court. On February 26, the High Court issued a rule and granted her interim bail for six months in these five cases. The state appealed this interim bail order to the Appellate Division. On March 5, the Chamber Judge heard the state’s appeal, stayed the High Court’s bail order, and sent the state’s applications to the regular bench of the Appellate Division.
The state’s leave to appeal petitions against the High Court’s bail in these five cases were heard by the Appellate Division today. After the hearing, the apex court withdrew the previously issued stay order by the Chamber Judge and directed the High Court to hear the rule proceedings. The Appellate Division also disposed of the five separate leave to appeal petitions filed by the state while issuing this order.
Lawyer SM Siddiqur Rahman and SM Hridoy Rahman represented Ivy during the hearings, while Deputy Attorney General Fatema Akter represented the state.
Deputy Attorney General Fatema Akter confirmed to this agency that the court dismissed the state’s leave to appeal petitions against bail in five cases. For the other five cases, she added, the court, after disposing of the state’s leave to appeal, ordered the High Court to hear the rule, withdrawing the previously imposed stay order on bail. This means Ivy’s bail remains active in 10 cases.
Meanwhile, after securing bail in 10 cases, police applied to arrest Ivy in two murder cases filed at Siddhirganj Police Station. The applications to show her arrested in these two cases were granted by the Chief Judicial Magistrate of Narayanganj on March 2 and April 12, respectively.
As Ivy was denied bail in the lower courts for these two cases as well, she filed bail applications with the High Court. On April 30, the High Court granted her interim bail in these two cases. The state has filed applications seeking to stay these bail orders as well.
SM Hridoy Rahman, one of Ivy’s lawyers, stated that the Appellate Division’s order confirms her bail in 10 cases. He further noted that the state’s applications to stay her High Court-granted bail in the latest two cases have not yet been listed for hearing at the Chamber Judge’s court, meaning her High Court bail in those cases remains active. Therefore, he concluded, there are currently no legal obstacles to her release.
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