Ex-CEC Habibul Awal denied bail in Dhaka court
Dhaka’s Second Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge Nursej Islam rejected the bail petition after a hearing today (3 September)
Former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal has been denied bail once again, this time by a Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge Court, in a case filed on charges of criminal breach of trust and sedition.
Dhaka's Second Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge Nursej Islam rejected the bail petition after a hearing today (3 September).
Defence lawyer Tapas Chandra Das, who moved the petition on behalf of Habibul Awal, confirmed the matter.
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Earlier, on 25 June, Awal was arrested from the capital's Moghbazar area by the Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police. The following day, a court granted a three-day remand. He has been in jail since then.
The case was initially filed on 22 June at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station by BNP National Executive Committee member Md Salah Uddin Khan, accusing three former CECs - Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad, KM Nurul Huda, and Kazi Habibul Awal - and 21 others of influencing and conducting a farcical election in the 10th to 12th parliamentary elections.
On 25 June, charges of sedition and fraudulent breach of trust were later added.
Awal, who took office as Chief Election Commissioner in 2022, oversaw nationwide city corporation and union parishad polls, as well as the 2024 general election. His commission, however, drew heavy criticism and political controversy during his tenure.
He resigned on 5 September 2024, along with other members of the commission, a month after the fall of the Awami League government amid mass uprising.
