Conviction of 4 govt officials stayed
Conviction of 4 govt officials stayed
The Supreme Court today stayed for four weeks a High Court verdict that sentenced four incumbent and retired government officials, including a joint secretary, to different terms of imprisonment for violating an injunction six years ago.
Chamber judge of the Appellate Division Justice Hasan Foez Siddique passed the orders after hearing four separate petitions by the accused seeking stay on the HC verdict.
The judge also asked them to submit separate leave to appeal petitions to this court against the HC judgment in four weeks.
In March 2008, the HC had ordered the Gazipur administration not to evict Abul Kalam alias Kaliullah and eight others from their West Lakhipura village in Joydevpur municipality.
But government officials led by the then Gazipur deputy commissioner Syed Mizanur Rahman drove away 40 families, including the nine land owners, and demolished 13 houses, saying that the pieces of land were khas land.
The HC on April 24 this year convicted and sentenced Syed Mizanur Rahman, joint secretary and director (administration) of Bangladesh Public Administration Training Centre; Syed Abdur Rob, manager of Gazipur Court of Wards, and its Assistant Manager Sabbir Ahmed, and ex-chairman of the Land Reform Board Monirul Islam after finding them guilty of violating its injunction order.
Mizanur was sentenced to 30 days in jail. Rob was given 15 days' jail term and fined Tk 1 crore. Sabbir and Monirul were sentenced to five days in prison.