Dhaka: The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday turned down the government’s petition against a High Court order granting bail to Bangladesh Nationalist Party(BNP)  joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi in four cases filed against him in connection with street violence.

A four-member bench of the Appellate Division, headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha, passed the order rejecting the government’s appeal.

Earlier on 1 July, the government had submitted an appeal to the Appellate Division against the HC order awarding his (Rizvi’s) bail in the four cases.

Advocate Joynul Abedin stood for the petitioner while Attorney General Mahbubey Alam represented the state.

Earlier on the same day, the HC granted an interim bail to the BNP leader in the cases.

An HC bench comprising Justice Mohammad Rezaul Haque and Justice Mohammad Khasruzzaman passed the order after a hearing on the BNP leader’s bail petition.

Of the four cases, three were filed with Mirpur Police Station while another with Pallabi Police Station against Rizvi on charge of carrying out subversive activities, including vandalising and torching vehicles and hurling crude bombs.

Amid the BNP’s non-stop countrywide transport blockade, members of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested Rizvi from a house in the city’s Baridhara area on 31 January.