A Patuakhali court yesterday dismissed an eight-year-old defamation case against BNP acting Chairman Tarique Rahman.
Patuakhali’s Kalapara Upazila Senior Judicial Magistrate Court Judge Ashish Roy dismissed the case.
The defendant’s lawyer Advocate Khandaker Nasir and court bench assistant Md Qayyum confirmed the order to The Daily Star.
“On January 15, 2015, Habibullah Rana, former deputy commander of Kalapara Muktijoddha Sangsad, filed a defamation case of Tk 20 crore in the court as a complainant. Due to the long absence of the complainant, the judge dismissed the case under Section 247,” said Qayyum.
According to the case, in a discussion meeting organised by the UK BNP on December 15, 2014, Tarique Rahman said Sheikh Mujibur Rahman returned to Bangladesh on January 10, 1972, with a Pakistani passport.
“Tarique also called him a ‘Razakar’ and ‘Pakbandhu’. With that, Tarique had undermined the reputation of the country and the freedom fighters, along with Bangabandhu himself,” said the case statement.
The court then issued an arrest warrant against Tarique.
In response to the acquittal of Tarique, Advocate Khandkar Nasir Uddin, upazila BNP organising secretary, said the case was politically motivated to harass the defendant.
Although the complainant in the case has been absent from the court for eight years, the former Awami League government used the court to uphold the arrest warrant, he added.
