Staff Reporter :
The High Court (HC) on Wednesday ordered the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to submit all the documents of the 33 cases filed for the misappropriation of Tk 18.5 crore from Sonali Bank’s Cantonment Branch.
The HC bench of Justice F R M Nazmul Ahasan and Justice K M Kamrul Kader passed the order after hearing on a case related to innocent Jahlam, who languished three years in jail instead of real accused.
At the same time, the HC bench fixed April 10 for further hearing on the case.
The High Court said, the lawyer of the ACC, “We will see, how many bank officers have been charged in the cases filed after the loan misappropriation. The ACC should have been taken the initiatives for the bail of Jahlam when the organization came to know that he is innocent. So, the ACC will have to take the liability for this.”
Advocate Khurshid Alam yesterday submitted the affidavit in the court in favor of the ACC in this case. During his hearing, he read from a report prepared by the ACC in which it was described how Jahlam was sued in 33 cases filed in this connection and how he was proved innocent later.
In one stage of the hearing, the court said the counselor of the ACC, “The ACC has been given freedom. It can be able to take action against the corrupt people outside of the recommendation. ACC is a constitutional institution. We do not want to have a negative connotation about the ACC. But we need to take action against corrupt peoples. Economic conditions in Bangladesh are improving. Earlier, the people hated the corrupt peoples. But our morality has been declined.”
Then the lawyer of the ACC said, “The further investigation reports of the cases filed in connection with the loan misappropriation have been submitted to the concerned lower court. At the same time, we have filed an application in the lower court seeking withdrawal of the charges against Jahlam.”
The lawyer said, “The concerned bank officers and the witnesses of the cases identified Jahlam as Abu Salek, the real accused of the cases. However, further investigation revealed that the real accused Salek’s house is in Thakurgaon.”
Then the court wanted to know from the ACC lawyer, “When you came to know that Jahlam is innocent and when you submitted further investigation in the court?”
Advocate Khurshid Alam then replied that he had come to the court with further investigation report. He would submit all the documents of the further investigation reports in the court.
The court said, “The ACC should have been taken the initiatives for the bail of Jahlam as soon as the organization came to know that he is innocent. Jahlam was repeatedly saying that he was innocent. Public Prosecutors knew that but they did not take any action. So, the ACC will have to take the liability for this.”
Then the ACC lawyer said to the court that they will submit in the court all the documents of the 33 cases in which Jahlam had been made accused.
In continuation of this, the court said, “Submit all the documents of the 33 cases filed for the misappropriation of Tk 18.5 crore of Sonali Bank’s Cantonment Branch. We will see all the documents.”
The court also said, “How many bank officers have been charged by the ACC in the Sonali Bank loan misappropriation? We will see this. You made witness the person who should have been accused in the cases.”
The court wanted to know from the ACC lawyer that when they would submit the documents of the cases. The ACC lawyer sought four weeks time for that. Then the court fixed April 10 for further hearing on the case.
Innocent Jahlam, who was in jail for the three years instead of the real accused in 33 corruption cases, was released from prison on February 4 after a HC order.
The HC on February 3 asked the ACC to submit their explanation in the court in this connection after the court had directed the jail authorities to release Jahlam. On that day the counselor of the ACC sought four weeks time from the court to submit their explanation and the court granted them time.
In its continuation, the ACC prepared a report in the form of affidavit on Tuesday to explain in the court.
Between 2010 and 2011, Abu Salek, a businessman, misappropriated about Tk 18.5 crore from Sonali Bank’s Cantonment Branch. Salek used a fake address to open an account with the bank, the ACC said.
Salek also had an account in another private bank, ACC sources said. In 2012, the anti-graft watchdog filed the 33 cases for the misappropriation, and Salek was made accused in most of them. During investigation, the commission asked the banks’ officials to identify and trace Salek.
The officials informed the ACC that the address provided by Salek in his bank documents was in Tangail’s Nagarpur, Jahlam’s village address, ACC sources said.
The commission then summoned Jahlam in its office where the bank officials, including the account’s introducers, were present.
Jahlam, a worker of Bangladesh Jute Mills at Ghorashal in Narshingdi, went to ACC and claimed that he was not Abu Salek and he did not have any account in the Sonali Bank and the picture which was used to open the account was not his picture.
But the bank officers, who were present in the ACC that day, identified Jahlam as Abu Salek. The ACC arrested Jahlam from Ghorashal in the month of February of 2016.
Later in the court, Jahlam described the issue of identity confusion and claimed himself innocent. But no one listened to him. So, he served the jail in place of Abu Salek and appearing in the court regularly.
Jahlam passed about three years in jail. But now ACC is saying that Jahlam is innocent. After an investigation the Human Rights Commission of Bangladesh gave the same opinion.
Recently, different media outlets reported that Jahlam was wrongly accused, after which the ACC investigated the matter further. Then the commission found Jahlam’s claim to be true.
On January 28, the HC bench issued a Suo Moto rule following a report published in a Bengali daily on the day under the headline “Wrong accused in jail in 33 cases : Sir, I am Jaha Alam, not Salek.” After hearing, the HC on February 3 directed the jail authorities to release Jahlam.
