High profile graft accused may get bail

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The amendment to the Emergency Power Rules (EPR) planned by the government will create scopes of getting bail for many high profile corruption suspects and convicts who are not prime accused in any graft case.

The probable amendment will facilitate bail to politicians like Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, MK Anwar, Dr Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, M Shamsul Islam and Motiur Rahman Nizami, who are co-accused–convicted or not–in such graft cases.

A few more amendments are also likely to be made effective after the Truth Commission starts functioning maybe later this month, sources said.

Through these amendments the government is, however, unlikely to offer the scope for bail to any principal accused in a graft case, sources involved in the government’s anti-corruption drive said.

An amendment will offer bail to a convict facing a maximum of three years’ imprisonment if their appeal against the verdict cannot be disposed of within the stipulated 90 working days which is no fault of the appellant.

This amendment has been proposed in line with the Supreme Court’s observation on a certain case in February.

Amendment is also likely to be made to EPR Section-15, which automatically applies to all corruption cases without requiring any permission from the government and blocks bail to the accused.

Through this amendment a provision for acquiring government permission to apply the section will be incorporated.

The government formed a 10-member experts committee last month to review the EPR provisions, especially those related to bail, and five of them are working in a sub-committee to find ways to relax them, said sources.

“We are planning to bring some amendments so that a co-accused in a graft case can get bail. All co-accused including those who have already been convicted will benefit from it,” said an official involved with the EPR review process.

Although most top ministers and leaders of major political parties have been arrested on graft charges, some of them are not the main accused in those cases.

Former ministers including Mannan Bhuiyan, MK Anwar, Khandaker Mosharraf, Shamsul Islam and Nizami are co-accused in the Niko graft case in which detained former premier Khaleda Zia is the principal accused.

Following the amendment a co-accused can get bail from the court if they are not named as the prime accused in any other case.

“Our main concern is to relax the ‘no bail provision’ without hampering the ultimate goal of the war against corruption,” a member of the committee told The Daily Star seeking anonymity.

He said the essence of the move is to relax the bail provisions for the co-accused family members–spouses and children–of many prime accused.

Mir Mohammad Helaluddin, son of former state minister Mir Mohammad Nasiruddin, and barrister Sigma Huda, wife of former communications minister Nazmul Huda, got bail from the High Court in a graft case at the end of last year. The Anti-Corruption Commission appealed against it with the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court which cancelled the High Court bail orders.

But in its observation the Supreme Court said the appellate court may consider the matter of granting bail in an appeal against short sentence not exceeding three years on two grounds: if the appeal could not be disposed of within 90 working days for no fault of the appellant; and if an appellant is seriously ill which has to be certified by a duly constituted medical board.

One member of the EPR review committee said, “We will also take into consideration this observation of the Supreme Court.”

There has been a strong debate among those involved with the EPR review process that the EPR is being relaxed to let graft convicts participate in the upcoming elections. But the group against letting the convicts contest elections seems stronger, said competent sources.

“If the convicts are allowed to contest the elections, the ultimate goal of the anti-corruption drive will stumble,” said one source.

According to the EPR, no convict can contest any election even if they appeal against the verdict. Earlier, a convict could contest elections with the appeal pending in the court.

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