Politics can’t be a money-making tool

Politics cannot be a tool to make money and amass properties, and if the politicians indulge in corruption, the entire society will plunge into darkness, the High Court said in the full text of a verdict.

"Being protectors, the politicians cannot be the predators …. This court wishes that those involved and engaged in politics should not run after money and properties."

"If the politicians own a huge amount of properties and money, they have to spend a lot of time of their life to sustain them and in that case, they would have little time to work for the people's welfare and the country as well," the bench of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice Khizir Hayat Lizu said in the 273-page full text of the judgment released yesterday.

On May 30, the bench delivered the verdict affirming the trial court judgement that on November 15, 2007, convicted and sentenced BNP leader and former state minister Iqbal Hassan Mahmood Tuku to nine years' imprisonment for amassing wealth illegally and concealing information in his wealth statement.

The special anti-graft court also fined him Tk 50 lakh and directed the government to confiscate his wealth worth over Tk 2.24 crore which is disproportionate to his known sources of income. In default, Tuku will have to spend another one year behind bars, the court said.

ACC lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan told The Daily Star that Tuku, who had been on bail till the delivery of the HC judgment, cannot take part in elections as per article 66(2) (d) of the constitution following the HC verdict.

In the full text of the verdict, the HC directed Tuku to surrender before the lower court concerned in 15 days after receiving the judgment of the lower court concerned.

The HC observed, "There are many ways and means to make money and amass properties through lawful businesses and other professions, but politics and politicians do not come within the purview of a profession to make a huge amount of money and properties in their name and in the name of their dependents."

"The politicians engage in politics with a view to sacrificing themselves for the people's welfare and the country and it is a kind act of great sacrifice and dedication for the wellbeing of the people and the country," the HC judges said in the full text.

"Corruption affects people across all genders, ages and races and it hits poor and vulnerable groups the hardest. The people of the country, particularly the responsible stakeholders, should set a positive example by showing that they are not only victims of corruption, but also the key players in the struggle against it."

" … If you want to create change in the world and if you want to make Bangladesh free from corruption and money laundering, take action."

Children are refreshingly truthful. The children must be taught to differentiate between honesty and dishonesty, the bench said. "Bad people help each other to silence critics and hide stolen wealth. It is time for those who expose them to work together."

"Citizens cannot sit idle by waiting for the world and Bangladesh to change; each of us must be part of that transformation. No one can fight corruption for the Bangladeshis except the Bangladeshis," the HC judges said in the full text.