Huda prosecuted for falsely implicating Sinha in bribery case
The Anti-Corruption Commission on Wednesday filed a case against Bangladesh National Alliance president Nazmul Huda for filing a case against former Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha with false information.
The commission director, Sayed Iqbal Hossain, filed the case with its integrated district office-1 for Dhaka, said ACC director for public relations department Pranab Kumar Bhattacharjee.
He said that the commission approved the case against former minister Nazmul Huda on December 4, 2019.
He said that relieving SK Sinha of charge, the commission took the decision to file a case against former Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader Nazmul Huda as ACC investigator did not find evidences of demanding bribe from Nazmul Huda while he claimed in his complaint that SK Sinha demanded bribe from him misusing his power.
On September 27, 2019, Nazmul Huda filed the case with the Shahbagh police, and later, a Dhaka court asked the commission to investigate the matter.
Following the court direction, the commission assigned its director Sayed Iqbal to investigate the matter.
But the commission’s investigation did not find any involvement of SK Sinha with the complaint, he said.
After filing the case, Nazmul Huda told New Age that he filed the case as SK Sinha in 2017, when he was in the chief justice, demanded bribe from him.
‘He called me in his chamber and demanded the bribe. As I refused to pay, he took some unconstitutional steps against me misusing his power as the chief justice,’ Huda said.
On November 8, 2017, the High Court reduced Nazmul Huda’s jail term to four years from seven years, finding him guilty of taking Tk 2.40 crore in bribe from the owners of two construction firms in 2005.
It had also reduced the jail term of Huda’s wife Sigma Huda, also a human rights activist.
The court also directed Nazmul Huda to surrender to the trial court in 45 days after receiving the verdict.
Nazmul Huda said he could not surrender to the trial court since the High Court was yet to release full verdict.
The High Court gave the verdict after rehearing two appeals filed by Nazmul and Sigma against the convictions handed down by a special judge’s court on August 26, 2007.
On March 20, 2011, another High Court bench set aside the convictions of Huda and Sigma on the ground that they were prosecuted illegally on orders issued by the commission secretary when there was no commissioners at the commission.
On December 1, 2014, after hearing the commission’s appeal, the Appellate Division stayed their acquittals and directed the High Court to rehear their appeals considering the merit of the trial court verdict. Sinha was in the Appellate Division then.
This was the first out of two dozen cases sent to the High Court Division by the Appellate Division for rehearing.
A former Supreme Court Bar Association president, Huda resigned as BNP vice-chairman in 2012. He was a communication minister in the BNP-led government in 2001-2006.
News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net
