<div style="text-align: justify; "><b style="font-size: 1rem;">The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court today granted bail to Awami League lawmaker Haji Mohammad Salim in a corruption case.</b><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A five-member bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Hasan Foez Siddique, granted bail to Salim after hearing a leave-to-appeal petition filed by him.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Senior lawyer Syed Ahmed Raza appeared for the petitioner in court while Advocate M Khurshid Alam Khan appeared for ACC.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In 2007, ACC filed the case against Salim. On April 27, 2008, a Dhaka court jailed him for 13 years and fined him Tk 20 lakh. Salim moved the High Court against the verdict.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In 2011, the court overturned his sentence but ACC later appealed against the lower court verdict. Later, the Appellate Division asked the High Court to re-hear the petition.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On March 9 last year, the HC bench of Justice Md Moinul Islam Chowdhury and Justice AKM Zahirul Huq upheld the lower court order, sentencing Salim to 10 years in jail after hearing a petition filed by ACC.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On February 10 this year, the HC released the full text of the verdict, asking Salim to surrender to a trial court concerned in 30 days. Salim surrendered before a Dhaka court on May 22. Later that day, a Dhaka court sent him to jail rejecting his bail petition.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">With this bail order, there is no bar for Haji Salim to walk out of jail, said his lawyer Ahmed Raza. UNB</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>