No legal bar to Ivy’s release as chamber court upholds HC bail in 2 cases

There is now no legal bar to the release of former Narayanganj City Corporation mayor Selina Hayat Ivy after the Appellate Division’s chamber court upheld the High Court’s bail orders in two murder cases filed over killings during the July Uprising.

Chamber Judge of the Appellate Division Justice Md Rezaul Haque passed the order today (17 May) after hearing separate state petitions seeking a stay on the High Court’s bail orders.

With the latest order, Ivy’s bail in all 12 cases against her remains in force, and there is now no legal bar to her release from prison, her lawyers said.

Earlier, after the High Court granted her bail in 10 cases, she was shown arrested in two cases filed with Siddhirganj Police Station. She was shown arrested in one case on 2 March and in the other on 12 April.

On 30 April, the High Court issued a rule and granted Ivy interim bail in the two Siddhirganj cases. The state later filed separate petitions seeking a stay on the bail orders, which came up for hearing before the chamber court today.

Senior lawyer Motahar Hossain Saju and lawyer SM Siddiqur Rahman represented Ivy in court, accompanied by lawyer SM Hridoy Rahman. Deputy Attorney General Syeda Sazia Sharmin appeared on behalf of the state.

Speaking to the media, Ivy’s lawyer SM Hridoy Rahman said, “The process of sending the Appellate Division’s order upholding the High Court bail in all 12 cases to the prison authorities and other relevant parties is underway. Once the process is completed, we hope she may be released within this week.”

Earlier, the Appellate Division had upheld the High Court’s bail orders granted to Ivy in 10 other cases on several occasions.