Narayanganj: The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Sunday upheld the bail granted by the High Court to former Narayanganj City Corporation (NCC) Mayor Selina Hayat Ivy in 10 cases, paving the way for her release. The decision was made by an Appellate Division bench, led by Chief Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury, which rejected separate appeals filed by the state against the High Court’s bail orders.
According to United News of Bangladesh, Ivy’s lawyer, Motahar Hossain Saju, stated that the apex court’s order removed any legal barriers to her release. The High Court had initially granted bail to Ivy in five cases on February 26, following separate bail petitions. The state subsequently filed petitions with the Appellate Division, seeking to stay the High Court’s bail orders.
Following the state’s petitions, the chamber judge of the Appellate Division stayed the High Court orders on March 5 and referred the petitions to the full bench for hearings. Of the cases against Ivy, four involve murder charges related to the deaths of bus driver Abul Hossain Mizi, Abdur Rahman, Md Yasin, and Parvez during the July uprising. Another case was filed at Narayanganj Sadar Model Police Station, alleging assault and obstruction of public servants.
The former NCC mayor was initially shown arrested in these five cases on November 9 of the previous year, even as she secured High Court bail in five additional cases. The state escalated the matter to the Appellate Division, where the chamber judge stayed the bail on November 12 and forwarded the cases to the regular bench for further hearing.
In a related development, the High Court granted Ivy bail on April 30 in two other murder cases associated with the July uprising. The HC bench, comprising Justice KM Zahid Sarwar and Justice Sheikh Abu Taher, issued the bail order after hearing separate petitions. These cases were filed at Siddhirganj Police Station in Narayanganj, pertaining to the killings of Selim Mondal and Abdus Salam during the July 2024 uprising.
Ivy’s legal troubles began when she was shown arrested on March 2 and April 12 of this year in connection with these cases. Her ordeal started on May 9 of the previous year when she was taken from her residence, ‘Chunka Kutir,’ in Narayanganj city’s Deobhog area and subsequently shown arrested in multiple cases.