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Toufique Imrose Khalidi, editor-in-chief of bdnews24.com, has secured permanent bail from a Dhaka court in a case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission.
Senior Special Judge KM Imrul Kayes passed the bail order on Wednesday.
The High Court on Aug 26 granted Khalidi an eight-week anticipatory bail in the case, which was upheld by a three-member bench of the Appellate Division on Sept 21.
The ACC contends that a Tk 420 million fund that Khalidi deposited into different bank accounts came from an “unknown source”.
Khalidi consistently denied any wrongdoing.
Previously on Oct 20, Judge KM Imrul Kayes extended Khalidi's bail to Nov 25 after the High Court’s anticipatory bail expired. This time, the bail has been made permanent, ACC lawyer Mahmud Hossain Jahangir said after the latest hearing.
Advocate Kazi Md Najibullah Hiru, former president of Dhaka Bar Association, and former secretary Mizanur Rahman Mamun led Khalidi’s legal team in the court on Wednesday. The team was aided by Noman Hossain Talukdar, Ehsan Habib, Monir Hossain, Latifur Rahman and Shoebuzzaman Supta.
At the hearing, Najibullah Hiru sought permanent bail for Khalidi after submitting that the court had granted him bail on Oct 20.
The opposing counsel then informed the court that the anti-graft agency had appealed against the bail for Khalidi at the High Court.
The judge subsequently asked whether the High Court had stayed the bail or if there were any documents, to which the ACC lawyer answered in the negative.
The judge then issued the bail order in favour of Khalidi.
After bdnews24.com announced a Tk 500 million investment by an asset management company in the news publisher in October 2019, the ACC began examining the deal and subsequently started a case against Khalidi on July 30, reports bdnews24.com.