The former deputy mayor of the Dhaka City Corporation (DCC), Jahangir Mohammad Adel, and his two sons were yesterday acquitted of all charges in the sedition case, filed against them for hoisting the Pakistani flag atop Adel's Old Dhaka residence on Pakistan's Independence Day on August 14, 2000.

Judge HS Ahmad, reading the verdict in front of Adel and his son, Tareq Mohammad Adel, said the prosecution had hopelessly failed to prove its case and so the accused were entitled to the benefit of doubt. Adel's other accused son, Zobayed Mohammad Adel, has been evading arrest since the trial began.

The case was filed on August 21, 2000 by Noor-e-Borhan, the then officer-in-charge of Kotwali police station. The court framed charges against the accused on January 14, 2001, and the trial began on June 26 last year.

Both the prosecution and defence completed their arguments on September 14 after the court heard the statements of seven prosecution witnesses in the case.