The High Court (HC) has dismissed a case filed under the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Act against BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and Senior Vice Chairman Tarique Rahman. 

The case developed from a 2016 Facebook post by Chowdhury Irad Ahmed Siddiqui that allegedly threatened the then-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and defamed the Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

HC bench of Justice AKM Asaduzzaman and Justice Syed Enayetur Rahman issued the ruling on Wednesday (Nov 13) in response to an appeal by Chowdhury Irad Ahmed Siddiqui, one of the accused in the case.

Advocate Ishtiaq Ahmed, along with Advocate Zakir Hossain Bhuiyan, represented the petitioner during the hearing.

In 2016, a Facebook page in the name of Irad Ahmed Siddiqui, son of former BNP leader Chowdhury Tanveer Ahmed Siddiqui, allegedly posted threats against Sheikh Hasina and published a satirical image of Bangabandhu. 

Following the incident, Abdul Kader Sujan, Information and Research Secretary of South District Awami League, filed a complaint with the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate's Court in Chattogram.

The complaint was lodged under Section 57 of the ICT Act 2006 (amended in 2013). The court accepted the complaint and instructed the Officer-in-Charge of Boalkhali Police Station to treat it as a formal case.

Subsequently, Khaleda Zia, Tarique Rahman, and Irad Ahmed Siddiqui were named as accused. Irad Ahmed Siddiqui later petitioned the High Court to dismiss the case, which has now been granted.

BDST: 1932 HRS, NOV 13, 2024
MSK