The Appellate Division has upheld the decision of High Court to grant six-month bail to BNP Chairperson Khaldea Zia in arson cases in Cumilla.

It also instructed the High Court to resolve the rule issued on the bail within one week.

A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain gave the verdict on Tuesday.

Attorney General, Mahbubey Alam, represented the state while Khandaker Mahbub Hossain and AJ Mohammad Ali for Khaleda Zia.

Earlier, the High Court on May 28 granted a six month bail to BNP Chairperson, Khaleda Zia, in two cases filed in Cumilla. Later, a petition was filed with the appellate division, seeking a stay on the bail order.

Cases against Khaleda

Khaleda was named in a case filed for carrying out an arson attack on a bus in Chouddagram of Cumilla district during the BNP-led alliance’s movement on February 2, 2015.

Seven people were killed and 20 to 25 others injured in the arson attack.

On the following day, police filed a murder case accusing the BNP chief.

The BNP chief sought bail after she was shown arrested in the case on April 5 this year.

Khaleda also named in another case filed under Special Power Act for instigating vandalism and arson attack on a covered van in Chouddagram area on Dhaka-Chattogram Highway on January 25 in 2015.

A three times prime minister, Khaleda has been sentenced to five years in prison for misappropriating foreign donations made to an orphanage.

She has been serving the term at the old jailhouse at Dhaka’s Nazimuddin Road since Feb 8, when the court convicted her of breaching trust by a public servant in the Zia Orphanage Trust case.