The High Court has granted bail to Bidisha Ershad the former wife of late president Hussain Muhammad Ershad in a long-running fraud case also clearing the way for her release from jail.
A bench of Justice Md Khairul Alam and Justice Md Rafiqul Islam passed the order on Sunday. With no other cases pending against her and there is now "no bar" to her release said her lawyer Masud Mia.
The case dates back to 2008 when businessman AK Mosharraf Hossain Sikder filed a complaint with Gulshan Police Station with accusing Bidisha of fraud over the sale of a flat at President Park in Baridhara. According to the case, Bidisha had offered to sell Mosharraf a flat for Tk.8 million in 2001 of which he paid Tk.7.5 million via pay order in the name of her nominee. Though a sale agreement was signed that the flat was allegedly never handed over.
The complaint further alleges that when Mosharraf demanded the flat or a refund a Bidisha issued a cheque for Tk.7.2 million in 2005 which bounced due to insufficient funds. Mosharraf also accused her of threatening him through hired men after he continued pressing for repayment.
On May 20, a Dhaka court sentenced Bidisha to two years in prison and fined her Tk.10,000 also issuing an arrest warrant since she was considered a fugitive. She was arrested from a Gulshan restaurant on August 25 and sent to jail after her bail plea was rejected.
Bidisha later appealed the sentence. While a Sessions Court accepted her appeal on September 2, it denied her bail prompting her to seek relief from the High Court which granted bail four days later.
Her lawyer said the underlying dispute stemmed from a 2001 property sale involving an apartment registered under Ershad's name which was later settled through discussions between Ershad and Mosharraf.
