The High Court today granted anticipatory bail to writer, poet Farhad Mazhar and his wife Farida Akter for eight weeks in a case filed against them for “giving a false statement” to police and court.

The court also directed them to surrender before the trial court after eight weeks in connection with the case.

The HC bench of Justice Obaidul Hassan and Justice Krishna Debnath came up with the order after hearing a petition filed by Farhad and his wife seeking bail in the case.

The writer and his wife appeared before the HC bench for bail in the case.

Advocate M Asaduzzaman stood for the accused petitioners.

Farhad and Farida do not need to appear before the lower court tomorrow following the HC order, Asaduzzaman told The Daily Star.

On December 31, a Dhaka court summoned writer, poet Farhad Mazhar to appear before it on January 30 in connection with the case.

On December 28 last year, Mahbubul Haque, inspector of the Detective Branch of police, lodged the case with Adabar Police Station against Mazhar and his wife Farida Akter.

The DB official, who also investigated the abduction case filed by Farhad's wife after he went missing on July 3, submitted a probe report before a Dhaka court on November 14, saying that Mazhar “staged the abduction” to get money from his family.

Farhad and his family had claimed that he was kidnapped by some people on the morning of July 3 after he went out of his Adabar home to buy some medicine.

Farhad was found on a bus in Jessore's Abhaynagar about 18 hours later.

Accepting the DB's probe findings, Metropolitan Magistrate of Dhaka Khurshid Alam on December 7 ordered police to sue Mazhar and his wife Farida for “staging the abduction”.