The High Court yesterday scrapped the 13-year jail sentence against Awami League lawmaker Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir in a corruption case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission adjudging the conviction against him illegal.
A special judge's court in Dhaka earlier awarded Alamgir, also former state minister, jail sentence on charge of amassing wealth illegally and concealing information in wealth statement submitted to the ACC.
The HC bench of justices Syed Muhammad Dastagir Husain and Md Rais Uddin delivered the verdict upon Alamgir's appeal against the lower court judgment.
The lawyers said it is the first HC verdict to rescind the conviction and sentence handed down by the special court during the last caretaker government's tenure against any person for amassing illegal wealth and hiding information about it.
ACC counsel advocate Khurshid Alam Khan told The Daily Star that the commission will file an appeal with the Supreme Court against the HC verdict after receiving a copy of the judgement.
When asked about the HC verdict's implication for similar cases, he said more than 80 people have been convicted and sentenced on parallel charges during the emergency rule. Similar verdict might follow in such cases, he added.
Alamgir's counsel barrister Rafique-Ul Huq told journalists that there was no legality in the special court's verdict in the case against his client. The rule of law has been established following the HC verdict.
He said the ACC secretary on February 18, 2007, issued notices on behalf of the commission on 50 people including Alamgir, asking them to submit their wealth statements.
The secretary had no jurisdiction to issue such notices as per the ACC law. But cases were filed against them on the basis of the “illegal notices” bringing similar charges against them, he said.
Most recipients of the notices were convicted and sentenced to imprisonment during the emergency period, the lawyer said.
The court scrapped the conviction and sentence against Alamgir on the grounds that the notice and filing of the case have no legal effect.
Rafique-Ul Huq said the caretaker government had promulgated an ordinance giving legitimacy to issuance of such notices by the ACC secretary. Since the present government has not ratified it, the notices ceased to have effect.
ACC Deputy Director Jibon Krishna Roy filed the case with Tejgaon Police Station on March 6, 2007, accusing Alamgir of making a huge fortune through misuse of power. He also charged the former state minister with concealing information in the wealth statement submitted to the ACC.
Judge Shahed Noor Uddin of Special Court-3 set up at the MP Hostel in Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban complex on July 26, 2007, sentenced Alamgir to 13 years in prison and fined him Tk 10 lakh in the case.