The incident left over 20 dead and nearly 300 injured. Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) had consistently claimed the trial was politically motivated. The recent judgment by a two-member High Court panel declared the 2018 trial and its verdicts "illegal," effectively acquitting all accused.

Bangladesh’s High Court acquitted former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia’s son, Tarique Rahman, and 48 others, overturning their verdicts in a deadly 2004 grenade attack on a political rally.

The HC bench of Justice AKM Asaduzzaman and Justice Syed Enayet Hossain acquitted all 49 accused and observed that the trial court's verdict in the cases was illegal.

The August 2004 attack occurred shortly after Sheikh Hasina, the then-Leader of Opposition, left after addressing a rally at Dhaka's Bangabandhu Avenue.

A top Bangladeshi politician accused of masterminding a deadly 2004 grenade attack against ex-premier Sheikh Hasina had his conviction quashed Sunday, another step in his expected return from London exile.