Money laundering prevention act constitutional: HC

The High Court (HC) yesterday declared the Money Laundering Prevention Act, 2009 valid and constitutional, saying that the parliament has passed the law within the constitutional frameworks.
An HC bench of Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain and Justice Gobinda Chandra Tagore delivered the verdict after rejecting a writ petition challenging the act.
Zahirul Islam, a Supreme Court lawyer, filed the writ petition as a public interest litigation (PIL) in July this year saying that the Money Laundering Prevention Act has been passed in parliament on February 24, 2009, with retrospective effect from April 15, 2008, which is against the constitution.
Attorney General Mahbubey Alam told The Daily Star that the HC has declared the act valid and constitutional, since the court did not found any unconstitutional element in the law.
The cases filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) against BNP leader Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury, Tarique Rahman and his friend Giasuddin Al Mamun and some others under this law will run in the trial courts following the HC verdict, he added.
Advocate Anisul Huq and Advocate Khurshid Alam Khan appeared for the ACC, while Barrister Fakhrul Islam argued for the petitioner.