SC stays HC bail order for Dr Towfiq

The Supreme Court yesterday stayed for a week the operation of the High Court order that granted an ad interim bail to former energy secretary Dr Towfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury in a power plant graft case on Sunday.
Justice MA Matin of the chamber court passed the order following a government petition, seeking permission to appeal against the High Court order.
Granting the bail to Towfiq on a writ petition, the High Court had issued a rule on the government to explain why placing of the case under the Emergency Power Rules for trial should not be declared illegal.
On January 16, Towfiq was sent to jail as he surrendered to a Dhaka court in a Tk 3-crore graft case.
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed the case in September last year for corruption in awarding a work order to a power company for setting up a barge-mounted power plant in Khulna.