On 3^rd February 2015, a petrol bomb attack left 8 persons dead in Cumilla. Police initiated a case on the incident and later, submitted charge sheet against Begum Khaleda Zia among others. Begum Zia sought bail before the Special Tribunal, Cumilla. The Tribunal fixed dates consecutive dates but didn’t dispose of the application. Thereafter, Begum Zia moved an application for bail directly before the High Court Division bypassing the Tribunal.

A question of law was presumed to arise as to whether a person can prefer regular bail application directly before the High Court Division. Learned Senior Advocate Mr. Khondkar Mahbub Hossain instructed us to conduct research on this point.

After a thorough examination, we came across with two old decisions where the high courts of Lahore and Madhya Bharat (Indore Bench) entertained bail application in a similar situation. In the case of Sayed Pir Mohi-ud-Din vs. Emperor, AIR 1938 Lah 762, the Lahore High Court observed that the Sessions Court and the High Court has concurrent jurisdiction in this regard and ‘...there is no hard and fast rule, it is desirable that the ordinary practice should certainly be that the lower court should first be moved and this is particularly desirable in a bail application...But there are peculiar circumstances in this case which take it out of the ordinary...’ The Court, though, did not grant the privilege of bail to the petitioner. In the case of Vasant Vinayek Bhagwat vs. State, AIR 1951 MP 104, the High Court granted relief to the petitioner.