Case Against SK Sinha: Court to deliver verdict Oct 5

A Dhaka court yesterday fixed October 5 for delivering the judgment of a case filed over Tk 4 crore money laundering against former Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha and 10 others.

Judge Shaikh Nazmul Alam of the Special Judge's Court-4 of Dhaka set the date on completion of closing arguments in the case.

The 10 other accused are AKM Shamim, Gazi Salahuddin, Swapan Kumar Roy, Md Lutful Haque, Md Shahjahan, Niranjan Chandra Saha, Shafiuddin Askary Ahmed, Ranjit Chandra Saha, Santri Roy and Mahbubul Haque Chisty alias Babul Chisty.

A total of 21 prosecution witnesses gave their deposition in the case before the court, said the state lawyer.

During yesterday's closing arguments, Shamim, Salahuddin, Swapan, Lutful, Shahjahan and Niranjan, who are now on bail, were present at the court. Only Mahbubul, who is now behind bars, was produced before the court from the jail.

Meanwhile, Mahbubul fell sick on the dock of the courtroom around 11:50am when the prosecution was presenting their arguments before the court yesterday.

After the judge directed the court police to take him to a hospital, Mahbubul was rushed to nearby Dhaka National Medical Institute Hospital for treatment, Nipendra Nath Biswas, a sub-inspector of court police, said.

Mahbubul was produced before the court again at 1pm after treatment, he added.

Four other accused -- SK Sinha, Shafiuddin, Ranjit and Santri -- have been absconding since filing the graft case.

In October 2018, ACC said it found evidence of fraud involving transactions of Tk 4 crore borrowed with fake documents by two businessmen, Shahjahan and Niranjan, from the Farmers Bank [now Padma Bank]. Later, the money was deposited in Justice SK Sinha's account.

On July 10 of 2019, ACC Director Syed Iqbal Hossain filed the case with its Integrated District Office-1 of Dhaka against SK Sinha and 10 others.

On December 8 that year, IO Md Benjir Ahammad, also ACC Director, pressed charges against them. On August 13 last year, the court framed the charges.

Sinha resigned on November 11, 2017, from abroad. He is now in the USA.