Court Correspondent :
A three-member bench of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha yesterday scrapped the trial proceedings of a graft case against BNP Senior Vice-Chairman Tarique Rahman’s mother-in-law Syeda Iqbal Mand Banu. The court passed the order after hearing on an appeal filed by the accused challenging a High Court decision.
The apex court said that the Anti-Corruption Commission’s notice under which the case was filed is no more valid as the notice was not served in a proper way. The court also directed the ACC to issue a fresh notice asking Iqbal Mand Banu to submit her wealth statement to them.
The High Court on February 2, last year, passed the impugned order that cleared the way for the lower court to run the trial proceedings against Iqbal Mand Banu in the corruption case.
Three lawyers including senior lawyer AJ Mohammad Ali moved the case on behalf of the accused, while ACC prosecutor Khurshid Alam Khan appeared in the court for the ACC.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Dhaka’s Senior Special Judge Kamrul Hossain Molla fixed August 18 for hearing on charge framing against Iqbal Mand Banu. But with the yesterday’s order of the Appellate Division that order is no more effective.
