Published: 12:40 AM, 07 September 2026
Bidisha Ershad gets bail in fraud case
The High Court has granted bail to Bidisha Ershad, the former wife of late president Hussain Muhammad Ershad in a fraud case, clearing the way for her release.
The bench of Justice Md Khairul Alam and Justice Md Rafizul Islam passed the order on Sunday.
With no other case pending against her, there is now "no bar" to Bidisha's release from jail, her lawyer Masud Mia told bdnews24.com.
The case was filed with Gulshan Police Station in 2008 over an allegation that Bidisha had taken Tk 7.5 million by promising to sell a flat in Baridhara.
On May 20, Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Jamshed Alam had sentenced Bidisha to two years in prison over the fraud, along with a Tk 10,000 fine, in default of which she would serve an additional month in jail. As Bidisha was a "fugitive" at the time, the court also issued an arrest warrant along with the conviction warrant that day.
Police later arrested her from a restaurant in Gulshan around 8:30pm on Aug 25.
She was produced before Dhaka's Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Court the following day.
Her lawyer sought bail before Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Aminul Islam Junaid's court that day, conditional on filing an appeal, but the court rejected the plea and ordered her to jail.
Bidisha later appealed against the two-year sentence.
On Sept 2, Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge Shahjahan Kabir accepted her appeal but rejected her bail application.
Four days later, the wife of the Jatiya Party's founder secured bail from the High Court.
According to her lawyer, the case relates to the 2001 sale of an apartment in Gulshan that was in the name of former military strongman Ershad.
Masud said the apartment was sold to businessman AK Mosharraf Hossain Sikder and the dispute was later resolved through discussions with Ershad.
The case was filed by businessman Mosharraf, who accused her of fraud over the sale of a flat at President Park in the capital's Baridhara.
According to the case, Mosharraf had wanted to buy a flat in Baridhara. On Jul 1, 2001, Bidisha showed him a flat at President Park through a contact and offered to sell it, with the two agreeing on a price of Tk 8 million.
It says that on Jul 10, 2001, Bidisha called Mosharraf to her office at Rajanigandha in Banani and asked him to issue a pay order of Tk 7.5 million in the name of her nominee and friend, Abdur Razzak.
Mosharraf paid the amount through Standard Chartered Bank's Karwan Bazar branch, after which the two signed a sale agreement.
Under the agreement, the flat was to be registered in Mosharraf's name after approval from the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (RAJUK) and payment of the remaining amount, with the flat to be handed over by Jul 10, 2002.
The complainant alleges the flat was never handed over despite the deadline passing long ago.
The filing says that when pressed to hand over the flat, Bidisha assured Mosharraf she would refund the money.
She issued a cheque for Tk 7.2 million on Feb 9, 2005, but it bounced when deposited within the stipulated time due to insufficient funds in the account.
Mosharraf alleges Bidisha stalled with excuses and handed over neither the money nor the flat, instead threatening him with death through "hired thugs".
