Bangladesh News

A Dhaka court yesterday sent Jatiya Party (Manju) Chairman and former communications minister Anwar Hossain Manju and ex-state minister for law Shahjahan Omar to prison after they surrendered before it in connection with two separate corruption cases.

They were earlier convicted on different terms in absentia in separate cases filed against them on charges of accumulating wealth illegally and taking bribes.

Special Court-10 Judge Arifur Rahman passed the order after the two appeared before it seeking bail.

Earlier, the Supreme Court (SC) had directed Manju, Omar and 11 others, convicted in absentia in corruption, extortion and bribery cases, to surrender before trial courts.

On May 14 last year, Shahjahan was sentenced to 13 years’ imprisonment and fined Tk 10 lakh for amassing wealth illegally and concealing information in his wealth statement submitted to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).

Manju was awarded 32 years’ imprisonment and fined in four criminal cases.

Moving the bail petitions, defence lawyers told the court that their clients had earlier been convicted in absentia and later surrendered before the High Court (HC) seeking bail.

Shahjahan’s counsel told the court that an HC bench granted their client bail and stayed his conviction after the hearing. But the government filed an appeal with the SC against the HC order. The SC on April 23 asked their client to appear before trial court.

Following the SC order, their client appeared before the court and sought bail in the case.

Opposing the bail petition, the prosecution argued that the trial court had no jurisdiction to grant the convict bail in this regard.

After hearing both the sides, the judge rejected the bail petition and ordered to send Shahjahan to jail.

Judge Kamaluzzaman of Special Court-9, set up on the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban premises, on May 14 last year sentenced Omar to 13 years’ and his wife Mehjabin Farzana Omar to three years’ imprisonment in a graft case.

ACC Assistant Director Sheikh Mesbahuddin filed the case on September 27, 2007 against Shahjahan on charges of concealing about Tk 2.64 crore in wealth statement and amassing about Tk 46.19 lakh illegally.

CASES AGAINST MANJU

Moving the bail petition, Manju’s lawyers told the court that their client had earlier been convicted on different terms in absentia in four cases.

But their client then appeared before the HC and sought bail in the cases. After the hearing, an HC bench gave a split verdict on the convictions.

The SC on May 3 disposed of the matters and asked Manju and several others to appear before trial courts within two weeks. Following the SC directives, their client appeared before it and sought bail in the cases.

But the prosecution opposed it and prayed for sending Manju to jail rejecting his bail prayer.

Manju was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment and fined Tk 10,000 on March 12, 2007 for possessing 21 bottles of contraband liquor at his Dhanmondi residence.

He was later handed down 14 years’ imprisonment in bribery cases on May 18 and June 10 last year and awarded 13 years’ imprisonment on August 26 the same year in a case filed for amassing wealth worth Tk 1.72 crore illegally and concealing wealth information about Tk 2.10 crore from the ACC.