Gulam Rabbani :
Fraudulent practice of seeking High Court’s bail by submitting fake documents and concealing the real information continues. The Supreme Court has taken various initiatives at different times to prevent such practices, but the fraudulence in securing bail has not stopped yet.
Sources said, at least 6-7 cases of such fraudulence were identified in the High Court division of the Supreme Court in last few months. The offenders are submitting fake FIRs, charge sheets and seizure lists with the bail petitions or concealing the real information in the cases of serious criminal offences.
The offenders manage to take order in their favour misleading the court by submitting fake documents prepared by downplaying the importance of the charges. These undue practices are more in criminal section of the High Court division.
Sources said, a syndicate is engaged in these fraudulence cases. The Supreme Court administration in 2019 suspended Monju Rani Kairee, an official of the criminal section, for her involvement in making fake bail orders. After that
incidents of fraudulence was stopped for some days. But recently several cases of fraudulence have been identified again.
Tufan Sarkar, a suspended Sramik League leader from Bogura, recently sought bail from the High Court in a corruption case concealing information. During the hearing on his bail petition, the fraudulence was identified by the court. Following the situation the High Court on April 1 ruled that Tufan Sarkar cannot seek bail from any court of the country for next six months in the case.
Tufan Sarkar committed forgery with the HC by submitting a fresh bail petition before it, although a rule over this issue has been remaining pending with the same court, said Deputy Attorney General Sarwar Hossain Bappy who appeared in the court for the state.
The Supreme Court administration has already filed about 60 cases fraudulence that happened in the High Court. The criminal section filed maximum 39 cases, writ section filed 9 cases, criminal appeal section filed 2 cases and other sections filed 10 cases so far. These cases are now under investigation.
The Supreme Court administration in last November filed two cases with the Shahbagh Police Station against 16 people including a Supreme Court lawyer and four officials of the Gopalganj Judge Court over a fraudulence incident of securing bail from the High Court. Sources said the trial proceedings of the cases are not progressing due to lack of proper evidence.
The High Court on March 12 last year handed over two accused to police on charges of submitting fraud bail petition before it. The bench of Justice Jahangir Hossain and Justice Md Riaz Uddin Khan also directed the Shahbagh Police Station to lodge a forgery case against the two.
Jamal Uddin and Kamal Uddin, residents of Chakaria in Cox’s Bazar, were sued in two cases over for murder attempt.
He said the two accused secured two weeks’ bail from another High Court bench on February 24 in 2020 and according to the High Court order they were supposed to surrender to the lower court after two weeks.
But they did not do so and concealing information about the previous bail they filed fresh petitions seeking bail with this High Court bench.
An official of the High Court division on condition of anonymity said their efforts continue to prevent case of fraudulence. The administration is monitoring all the time, said the official adding that immediate action is being taken as soon as a case is found.
Following another incident the High Court on February 24 this year ordered police to arrest 30 accused in a violence case of Bogura for fabricating a fake bail order of this court in their favour.
Among the accused is the district Sadar upazila’s Jubo League acting president Md Aminul Islam. The court ordered the Officer-in-Charge of Bogura Sadar Police Station to submit a report to it after arresting them within seven days.
The HC bench of Justice Md Abu Zafor Siddique and Justice KM Hafizul Alam also directed Bogura’s Chief Judicial Magistrate to conduct an inquiry into the fabrication of forged HC bail order and to submit the probe report to this court in 30 days.
Senior jurist Khandker Mahbub Hossain said the lawyers have to be more cautious to prevent such fraudulences in the court premises. He also suggested for identifying the tout groups in the court premises and to bring them under the law.
