Court delivers justice: Babar's wife

The High Court has acquitted former State Minister for Home Affairs Lutfuzzaman Babar, who was sentenced to death in the much-discussed August 21 grenade attack case. The High Court bench comprising Justice AKM Asaduzzaman and Justice Syed Enayet Hossain delivered the verdict on Sunday. The High Court also observed that the verdict of the trial court was illegal.

In an immediate reaction to the verdict, former State Minister for Home Affairs Lutfuzzaman Babar's wife Tahmina Zaman said, "After a long wait, I finally got justice. For this, I thank Allah Almighty, Alhamdulillah."

She also said, "Only the victims can tell what a difficult time it is to wait for so long. The court has delivered justice to us."

It is worth noting that on October 10, 2018, the trial court sentenced 19 people, including former State Minister for Home Affairs Lutfuzzaman Babar and BNP leader Abdus Salam Pintu, to death in the August 21 grenade attack case. At the same time, 19 people, including BNP Senior Vice Chairman Tarique Rahman, were sentenced to life imprisonment. 11 other defendants were sentenced to different terms of imprisonment. Later, on November 27 of that year, the trial court's verdict in the case reached the Death Reference Branch of the High Court along with the necessary documents. The imprisoned defendants also appealed. In December 2022, the appeal hearing of the case began in a bench headed by Justice Shahidul Karim. In the meantime, that bench was reconstituted. Due to this, the hearing began again in a new bench.