Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and Standing Committee member Mirza Abbas should have been given the first-class division facilities in jail to begin with considering they are both former lawmakers and ministers, said the High Court on Wednesday.
"The Magistrate Court on 9 December had asked prison authorities to ensure the division facilities per the jail code. Though it was granted four days later, the wait caused Fakhrul and Abbas quite a bit of suffering," said the High Court bench of Justice KM Kamrul Quader and Justice Mohammad Ali.
In a subsequent order, the court dismissed the writ petition filed by Fakhrul and Abbas yesterday with the relevant branch of the Supreme Court seeking prison division.
Barrister Kayser Kamal was in favour of the writ in court while Deputy Attorney General Abdullah Al Mahmud Bashar represented the state.
Earlier on Tuesday, the writ was lodged on behalf of Mirza Fakhrul's wife Rahat Ara Begum and Mirza Abbas's wife Afroza Abbas.
In the petition, they had sought the court's order to the home secretary and jail authorities to provide the BNP leaders with first-class division facilities.
Generally, the division facilities ensure a higher living standard in jail, which includes a bed, a table, a chair, a mosquito net, a newspaper and better food.
In the early hours of Friday, a team of the Detective Branch (DB) of police picked up Mirza Fakhrul and Mirza Abbas from their residences in the capital.
On Friday (9 December), a Dhaka court sent Mirza Fakhrul and Abbas to jail rejecting their bail petitions in the case.
Following a special bail plea on Monday, a Dhaka court rejected the bail petitions of 224 BNP activists including the two leaders.
