| Top Graft Suspects : Judgment may impact fate of 150 cases Fates of around 150 graft cases filed under emergency power rules (EPR) against many biggies of politics and business, in connection with corruption committed before the declaration of the state of emergency, may become uncertain yesterday following a High Court (HC) verdict. The HC yesterday declared illegal the trial under EPR of an extortion case filed against Sheikh Hasina, following a writ petition filed by her challenging the trial's legality. The watershed verdict also affects all other cases that either had already been tried or are currently being tried or awaiting trials under EPR in connection with crimes committed before the declaration of the state of emergency. Verdicts in around 50 of such cases were already delivered by different trial courts, sentencing some former ministers, lawmakers, bureaucrats and businessmen to different terms of imprisonments, another 50 cases are currently being tried, while over 40 others are currently being investigated, following which those were also supposed to go on trial. Since the army backed caretaker government had launched a crackdown on corruption suspects, the Anti-corruption Commission (ACC), the National Board of Revenue (NBR), and individuals filed the cases against top politicians, businessmen, and former bureaucrats accusing them of graft. The accusations include amassing of wealth through illegal means, extortion, tax dodging, and concealing of information in wealth statements submitted to the ACC. Following yesterday's HC verdict, all such cases have become illegal, said eminent jurists. Before the verdict, Law Adviser Hassan Ariff who is also a former attorney general, said the judgment on the writ petition filed by Hasina in connection with the extortion case against her would determine the fate of other such cases under EPR. The verdict throws into uncertainty the caretaker government's plan for making it impossible for 'corrupt' political bigwigs, detained or convicted under EPR, to contest in parliamentary and local government elections. According to a provision of EPR, any person, convicted of corruption by a trial court, will be disqualified from contesting in any election until adjudication of the person's appeal against the verdict. But, if detained and fugitive political leaders are tried under general laws instead of EPR, then even convicted persons will be able to contest in polls until the Supreme Court (SC) upholds the convictions by the trial courts, which is usually a very lengthy process. For instance, Jatiya Party Chairman HM Ershad contested in the parliamentary election of 1996 filing an appeal against his conviction by a trial court during a BNP regime between 1991 and 1996. Moreover, once trials begin under general laws, detained politicians will have to be allowed to seek bail, a defendants' right denied by EPR. Yesterday's HC verdict created a setback for the ongoing prosecutions under EPR of the offences committed before the advent of EPR under Emergency Power Ordinance (EPO), both of which were promulgated in January of last year. If the Appellate Division of SC upholds yesterday's HC verdict then trials of the cases will have to begin afresh under general laws, legal experts said. Talking to The Daily Star yesterday Justice Ghulam Rabbani, a former judge of the Appellate Division of SC, said trials of the pending cases under EPR will have to be started afresh including fresh indictments under general laws. Asked what will be the fate of the cases in which verdicts were already delivered, Rabbani said it is difficult to say now what will happen to those. "The matter will be resolved through the appeal process," Rabbani said. Another eminent jurist, Shahdeen Malik said the interpretation of law is that crimes committed before the emergency cannot be tried under EPR. "And it follows that others who had been tried and convicted under EPR for offences committed before the emergency shall also get the benefit of the judgment. Their convictions under EPR are also likely to be thrown out," Malik observed. Many senior government officials including officials in the attorney general's (AG) office said the verdict is sure to give rise to a big crisis ahead of the parliamentary election, which will inevitably prompt the government to appeal the verdict at the Appellate Division. The verdict came at a time when the caretaker government is under tremendous pressure to lift the state of emergency allowing resumption of political activities for creating an atmosphere for holding the stalled 9th parliamentary election before the year ends. In a bid to free the body politic from the vice-grip of corrupt politicos, the army backed caretaker government launched the biggest ever crackdown in the country's history on 'corrupt politicians' on February 4 of last year, detaining a large number of big names in politics including two former prime ministers Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina. The trial of an extortion case against detained former prime minister also AL chief Sheikh Hasina was being held under EPR while a graft case filed against another detained former premier also BNP chief Khaleda Zia was also brought under the ambit of emergency rules. Many former ministers and lawmakers were also facing trials on charges of corruption under EPR. If they are now tried under general laws instead of EPR, they will be allowed to seek bail and will have the scope for contesting in the next parliamentary election, even if they are convicted, until the SC upholds the convictions by trial courts, the process of which is usually very lengthy. "There will be no point in holding the election if the corrupt politicians make a comeback in the polls. We did not join our posts to hold a business as usual parliamentary election. Matters concerning arrested corruptionists needs to be resolved," Chief Election Commissioner ATM Shamsul Huda said on April 5 defending the Election Commission's (EC) 18-month timeframe for holding the stalled parliamentary polls. CONVICTED, DETAINED HEAVIES Former ministers of the immediate past BNP-led alliance government Nazmul Huda, Shajahan Siraj, state ministers Amanullah Aman, Ruhul Quddus Talukder Dulu, Mir Mohammad Nasiruddin, Ziaul Haque Zia, Salahuddin Ahmed, Iqbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku, former BNP lawmakers Naser Rahman, Nadeem Mostafa, Mizanur Rahman Minu, Rashiduzzaman Millat, Motiur Rahman Talukder, Nurul Islam Moni, another Salauddin Ahmed, Ali Asgar Lobi, Manjurul Ahsan Munshi, Shahidul Islam, Helaluzzaman Talukder Lalu, and former political secretary to prime minister Harris Chowdhury have already been convicted among others. Former ministers and senior BNP leaders Khandaker Mosharaf Hossain, Moudud Ahmed, Morshed Khan, Tariqul Islam, Altaf Hossain Chowhdury, Miraza Abbas, former parliamentary affairs adviser to prime minister Salauddin Quader Chowdhury, former state ministers Lutfozzaman Babar, former lawmakers MA Hashem, Mosaddak Ali Falu, Hafiz Ibrahim, Joynal Abedin Faruk, Fazlul Haque Milon, Majibur Rahman Sarwar, Nasiruddin Ahmed Pintu, BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Tarique Rahman, and his brother Arafat Rahman among others have been detained on charges of graft, and cases have been filed against them under EPR. Former ministers of previous AL government Mohammad Nasim, Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir, former AL lawmakers Rafiqul Anwar, Shamim Osman, Joynal Hazari, and AL leaders Pankaj Debnath among others have already been convicted on charges of graft. AL senior leaders Abdul Jalil, Fazlul Karim Selim, Obaidul Quader, Engineer Mosharraf Hossain, Habibur Rahman Mollah, Kamal Ahmed Majumder, ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury, Badruddin Ahmed Kamran, Salman F Rahman, and ANH Mostafa Kamal have been detained on charges of graft, while some other AL leaders are on the lam as they have also been indicted for corruption. |
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