Ex-Cumilla CJM gets bail after conviction for contempt of court

The High Court has granted 30-day conditional bail to former Cumilla Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Sohel Rana within a few hours of sentencing him to 30 days of imprisonment on the charges of contempt of court.

As the ex-CJM pleaded for bail within three hours of the punishment order, a High Court (HC) division bench comprising Justice Md Badruzzaman and Justice SM Masud Hossain Dolon accepted the plea and granted him bail for 30 days on the condition of filing an appeal on Thursday.

Earlier the same day, the High Court bench sentenced Sohail Rana to 30 days of imprisonment and fined him Tk 5,000 for contempt of court. The court also directed him to surrender before the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court of Dhaka within seven days.

Advocate Shah Manjurul Haque, lawyer of the defendant, told the newsmen that on April 10, the then Chief Judicial Magistrate of Cumilla, Sohel Rana, framed charges in a case and issued several orders despite a suspension order of the High Court on the proceedings of the case. The High Court summoned him on August 14 and asked him to appear before it on August 21 to explain his stand on ignoring the High Court order.

"He appeared before the High Court and later filed his reply. However, as the court found his answer not to be satisfactory, a contempt of court order was issued against him on August 28. Today, the court rejected his unconditional apology and passed the punishment order," he added.

The defendant's lawyer also said that an appeal will be filed against the judgment on Sunday.

/KN/