A High Court (HC) bench yesterday refused to accept the bail petition filed by Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojahid in the Barapukuria coal mine corruption case.
Justices Mohammad Anwaurl Haque and Farah Mahmud said their bench was already overstretched with other cases.
The bail petition was later moved to the bench of justices AKM Fazlur Rahman and ATM Fazle Kabir after the Jamaat leader’s counsels appealed to the chief justice to constitute a new bench to hear their case.
The new bench asked Mojahid’s lawyers to place the petition for hearing on October 19.
Meantime, eminent citizens and lawyers yesterday sharply reacted to Mojahid’s presence at his party’s dialogue with the government Tuesday even when police reported to the trial court that he is a fugitive.
Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) Chairman Prof Muzaffer Ahmad said the rule of law was violated allowing Mojahid into the talks.
“Law should be equal to all; it violates the rule of law when a wanted accused sits with government advisers instead of being arrested,” he told reporters after attending a seminar in the city.
“The government will have to account for if he roams free in line with the administration’s consent,” he said.
On whether the government was softening its position for the sake of success of its negotiations with political parties and the upcoming election, he said, “This flexibility cannot be evaluated from one or two instances; we’ve got to wait for the final results.”
Supreme Court Bar Association President barrister Shafique Ahmed said allowing Mojahid into the meeting was an act of ‘harbouring a criminal’.
On the Jamaat platitude that Mojahid’s joining the talks was OK as he had already applied for bail, he said, “Appealing for bail does not mean getting bail.”
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