The High Court acquitted seven accused in the infamous 10-truck arms haul case that had rocked the nation, including former state minister for home affairs, Lutfozzaman Babar.
The judgment was delivered by the bench of Justice Mostafa Zaman Islam and Justice Nasreen Akter on Wednesday (18 December).
Additionally, ULFA's military commander Paresh Barua saw his death sentence commuted to life imprisonment.
The case had garnered national attention following the interception of a massive arms shipment on 1 April 2004, when 10 trucks filled with firearms were seized at the CUFL dock in Chittagong.
Two separate cases were filed against the accused under the Arms Act and Special Powers Act, accusing them of smuggling weapons.
On 30 January 2014, both the Chittagong Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court and Special Tribunal-1 delivered a verdict.
The court sentenced 14 individuals, including Babar and Paresh Barua, to death for arms smuggling.
In a separate case under the Arms Act, the same group of accused, including Babar, were handed life imprisonment sentences.
Following the verdict in 2014, the case was transferred to the High Court for further review, with death references and appeals from the convicted defendants.
The case became a focal point of legal scrutiny, with prominent lawyers like SM Shahjahan and Shishir Monir representing some of the accused, including Babar.
This recent ruling by the High Court marks a crucial development in the long-standing legal battle surrounding the arms smuggling case, with Babar's acquittal and Paresh Barua's sentence reduction altering the trajectory of justice in this high-profile matter.
