Staff Reporter :
The High Court (HC) on Thursday stayed the conviction and sentence of a former Chairman of Jhikorgachha Upazila in Jashore, clearing the way for her contesting the upcoming Parliament Elections.
The HC bench of Justice Md Rais Uddin passed the order after hearing a petition filed by Sabira Sultana, a BNP aspirant for Jashore-2 Constituency, seeking stay on her conviction and six years’ jail sentence in a case filed by Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
The stay order will remain in force and Sabira’s conviction and sentence will remain suspended until her appeal against the conviction and sentence is disposed of by the HC, Sabira’s lawyer Advocate Aminul Islam told the reporters.
Following the HC order, there is no legal bar for Sabira Sultana to contest the 11th general election, he said.
If the convicts, including BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, move petitions before the HC for staying their convictions and jail sentences and if their appeals against their convictions are pending, they might get redressed in line with the today’s HC order and they might be eligible to contest the elections, Advocate Aminul said.
He, however, said, the order of the HC bench of Justice Rais Uddin is not a binding for the other HC benches.
Meanwhile, Advocate Khandker Mahbub Hossain said, “Finally the Appellate Division will decide whether the convicts sentenced to more than two years in the lower court can contest in the election. But many examples were seen in the past that the convicts participated in the Parliament Elections after the SC had stayed the conviction.”
Advocate Aminul Islam said, the HC bench stayed the conviction and sentence of Sabira in line with Section 426(1) of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
Section 426(1) of the CrPC stipulates, “Pending any appeal by a convicted person, the Appellate Court may, for reasons to be recorded by it in writing, order that the execution of the sentence or order appealed against be suspended and, also, if he is in confinement, that he be released on bail or on his own bond.”
Aminul said, the Special Judge Court-7 of Dhaka on July 12 convicted Sabira and sentenced her to six years’ imprisonment in a case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission for amassing illegal wealth and concealing information about it.
Sabira filed an appeal with the HC on July 30 challenging the trial court verdict in the case.
Advocate Aminul refused to make any comment on the observations made by two separate division benches of the HC about the stay of the conviction and sentence of the convicts.
ACC lawyer Advocate Khurshid Alam Khan told the reporters that the commission will move an appeal before the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Sunday challenging the order passed by the HC bench of Justice Rais Uddin.
On November 26, the HC bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Md Mostafizur Rahman observed that there is no provision in the CrPC for suspending a conviction, unless scrapped by a competent court.
On November 27, another HC bench of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice K M Hafizul Alam observed that there is no provision in the CrPC to suspend the conviction.
The bench also observed that a convicted person sentenced to more than two years in jail cannot contest in the election without passing five years after his or her serving the sentence, even if an appeal against the conviction is pending.
On November 28, the Appellate Division upheld the observations, the ACC lawyer added.
