HC upholds BNP MP Harun’s sentence

The trial court rightly found BNP lawmaker Harunur Rashid guilty and sentenced him correctly in the case filed over evading tax while importing a car, said the High Court in the full text of a verdict.

It upheld the five years' jail sentence of Harunur, but said the sentence would be considered served.

"… From the discussion made above and on perusal of the evidence, deposition of the prosecution witnesses, and the cross-examination made by the convict appellants [Harunur, MP of Chapainawabganj-3, Enayetur Rahman Bappi, former managing director of NTV, and Ishtiaq Sadek, owner of Sky Autos), I am of the view that the prosecution has successfully proved the charge against the convict appellants.

"The learned special judge has rightly found them guilty under Section 409/109 of the Penal Code and correctly convicted and sentenced them which must be upheld," the bench of Justice Md Salim said in the judgement.

Following the HC verdict and observation, a controversy has aroused whether Harunur can hold the office of a lawmaker.

Five years' imprisonment of Harunur has been upheld by the HC and therefore, he cannot remain a lawmaker under article 66 (2) (d) of the constitution, ACC's lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan told The Daily Star.

"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," according to the article.

Meanwhile, Harunur's lawyer AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon told this correspondent that there was no legal bar for his client to remain a lawmaker and to contest elections for the same post in future as he has already served 16 months.

"We will move an appeal before the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court against the High Court verdict and seek his acquittal in the case," he added.

The HC bench said, "Nevertheless, the sentence of the convict appellants Harunur Rashid, Ishtiaq Sadek and Md Enayetur Rahman is treated to have been served out as they have faced prolonged trial in the trial court since 2007 and already served out a substantial part of the sentence."

On October 21, 2019, a Dhaka court sentenced Harunur to five years' imprisonment, Enayetur to two years' and Ishtiaq to three years' in the case filed by the ACC for tax evasion.