BNP senior leader Mirza Abbas’ bail in a graft case was stayed for a week by the Supreme Court today, thereby halting his release from prison.

A five-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha stayed the High Court bail in response to a petition filed by Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).

The apex court also asked the ACC to file a leave to appeal petition with the court against the High Court’s bail order for Mirza Abbas within a week.

ACC filed the case with Shahbagh Police Station on March 6, 2014 on charge of causing the state a loss of Tk 16 crore by allocating seven acres of Rajuk's land to a journalists' cooperative society at a lower rate.

Mirza Abbas was the housing and public works minister during the BNP led four-party alliance government regime.

On March 9, the High Court granted bail to Abbas in this case paving the way for his release from jail.