Inu, Menon and Manik granted bail in defamation case

BD Digest Report

Former Supreme Court Justice AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik, former Social Welfare Minister Rashed Khan Menon and former Information Minister Hasanul Haque Inu have been granted bail by Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Rounak Jahan Takir’s court on Tuesday (March 24) in a defamation case filed against them for making objectionable comments about former President Ziaur Rahman.

Deputy Police Commissioner (DC) of the DMP’s Prosecution Department, Mia Mohammad Ashish Bin Hasan, confirmed the matter.

He said, the case was scheduled for today. There was a request to show Hasanul Haque Inu arrested in this case. For this, he was produced in court. The other two accused Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik and Rashed Khan Menon were produced in court. After the hearing, Inu was shown arrested in the case. Later, their lawyers applied for bail on behalf of the three accused. After the hearing, the court granted them bail. Earlier, Menon and Manik were shown arrested in this case on January 21.

On August 22, 2024, a lawyer named Ziaul Haque filed a defamation case in court. The court took cognizance of the case and ordered the PBI to investigate.

The case alleges that former Justice Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik made defamatory remarks about Ziaur Rahman while participating in a private television talk show on October 3, 2022. Earlier, on February 15, 2021, he also made defamatory remarks while giving a speech at a seminar.

On July 19, 2013, former ministers Hasanul Haque Inu and Rashed Khan Menon made objectionable comments about Ziaur Rahman while participating in different events. The accused also made negative and defamatory statements about the Zia family at different times, which is mentioned in the charges in the case.