HC upholds Salim’s 10-year jail for graft

The High Court yesterday upheld a lower court's verdict that convicted and sentenced Haji Md Salim to 10 years in prison in a corruption case filed by the ACC during the military-backed caretaker government in 2007.

It also upheld a fine of Tk 10 lakh imposed on the Awami League lawmaker from Dhaka-7 for amassing wealth worth Tk 14.65 crore beyond known sources of his income.

The HC, however, scrapped another part of the lower court's judgement delivered in 2008 which handed three years' imprisonment to Salim for concealing information about his wealth to the Anti-Corruption Commission.

Delivering the verdict following an appeal by Salim, the HC also said his illegal wealth worth Tk 27 crore would remain confiscated.

Beside, the HC ordered the AL leader to surrender before the trial court concerned in 30 days once the latter receives a copy of the verdict. It said if he fails to do so within the given time, the Dhaka court can issue an arrest warrant for him.

The HC bench of Justice Md Moinul Islam Chowdhury and Justice AKM Zahirul Huq delivered the verdict after rehearing the appeal.

The HC bench, however, abated another appeal filed by Salim's wife Gulshan Ara Begum challenging the trial court judgment that had sentenced her to three years' imprisonment in the same case.

Gulshan Ara died in November last year.

The bench said in the verdict that the ACC has been able to prove the charges brought against Salim that he possessed wealth beyond known sources of his income.  Therefore, the trial court verdict stays affirmed.

The ACC, however, failed to prove the charge that Salim concealed information about his wealth to the ACC and therefore, the three years' imprisonment sentence was scrapped. He is acquitted of this charge, the court said.

Details of the grounds and observations on which the HC bench delivered the verdict could not be known as the full text was not released yesterday.

ACC lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan told The Daily Star that Salim could no longer remain an MP as per Article (2) (d) of the constitution as the HC upheld his 10 years' jail sentence.

Salim's lawyer Sayed Ahmed Raza, however, said his client would move an appeal before the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court challenging the HC verdict.

"My clients parliamentary membership will stay as the issue will be settled by the apex court," he told this correspondent.

Contacted, eminent legal expert Dr Shahdeen Malik said usually a parliamentary membership of a person does not get scrapped until the issue of his or her conviction is settled by the apex court.

He, however, said no judgement clarified that the verdict of which court -- the trial court or the appeal court (the HC) or the final court (Appellate Division) -- should be considered for cancelling the Jatiya Sangsad membership of Salim. 

Shahdeen said Salim continued being a lawmaker after the lower court handed him 13 years' imprisonment as his appeal against the judgement remained pending with the HC.

Awami League leaders MK Alamgir and Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya were also convicted by lower courts, but their parliamentary memberships were not cancelled as their appeals were pending with the appeal court, he added.

On April 27, 2008, the Special Judge's Court-7 of Dhaka convicted Haji Salim and sentenced him to a total 13 years' imprisonment over two separate charges brought in the corruption case.

The court also sentenced his wife for abetting her husband's crime and keeping the ill-gotten wealth in her possession.

She was also fined Tk 1 lakh, in default of which she had to suffer six more months in prison.

Judge Sirajul Islam of Special Judge's Court-7, set up on the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban premises, also fined Salim Tk 10 lakh, in default of which he had to stay another year in jail.

Besides, the judge issued orders for confiscating all his ill-gotten assets worth Tk 27 crore.

Salim and his wife Gulshan Ara were tried in absentia.

They filed two separate appeals with the HC on October 25, 2009, against the trial court verdict. Following his appeal, the HC on January 2, 2011, acquitted Salim of the corruption case.

The ACC then appealed against the HC verdict to the Appellate Division.

The Appellate Division on January 12, 2015, scrapped the HC verdict and directed the HC to hold a rehearing of Salim's appeal and to dispose of the appeal again.

SALIM'S JS MEMBERSHIP

The parliament secretariat will make a decision on Salim's JS membership once the ACC sends documents regarding the HC verdict to the Speaker and the secretariat.

Zafar Ahmed Khan, senior secretary at the secretariat, confirmed the matter to The Daily Star.

He said they did not receive the documents last night.

"The Speaker will take necessary measures regarding Haji Selim's membership in parliament in line with the constitution after getting the documents from the Anti-Corruption Commission," said the senior secretary.

According to the Article 66 of the constitution, there are several provisions under which an MP shall be disqualified for being a member of parliament.

One of the provision says: "A person shall be disqualified for election as, or for being, a member of parliament who has been, on conviction for a criminal offence involving moral turpitude, sentenced to imprisonment for a term of not less than two years, unless a period of five years has elapsed since his release. 

In the same Article, it also says in case of any dispute over vacating membership of the respective MP, it shall be referred to the Election Commission to hear and determine it and the decision of the commission on such reference shall be final.