The Appellate Division has upheld the High Court’s order canceling the bail of Ismail Hossain Chowdhury Samrat, the expelled leader of the Dhaka Metropolitan South Jubo League in the case of acquisition of wealth beyond known income. The Appellate Division has dismissed the leave to appeal made by the Samrat against the order of the High Court. Justice Md. on Wednesday. The three-member Appellate Division headed by Nuruzzaman gave this order.
Dhaka’s Special Judge Court granted conditional bail to Samrat till June 9 in this case filed by the ACC on charges of acquiring wealth outside of known income on May 11. Later on Monday, the ACC applied to the High Court to cancel the bail. Samrat was granted bail in three other cases against him before being granted bail in the trial court in this ACC case. Samrat was released from the prison cell of BSSMU (Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical Hospital) on May 11 after getting bail in all four cases. However, he is still under treatment in that hospital.
On May 18, the High Court canceled Samrat’s bail on the application of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) against the order of the judicial court. He was also directed to surrender before the judicial court within seven days. After that, Samrat appealed to the Appellate Division seeking suspension of the High Court’s order.
Senior lawyer Mohammad Khurshid Alam Khan appeared on behalf of the ACC in the court. He told reporters that the chamber court did not suspend the High Court’s order canceling Samrat’s bail. As a result, the bail cancellation order is upheld. Barrister Roknuddin Mahmud, a senior lawyer, was in the court hearing on behalf of the Samrat.
On November 12, 2019, the ACC filed a case against Samrat accusing him of acquiring known non-income assets of Tk 2 crore 94 lakh 80 thousand. After investigating the case, the ACC submitted the charge sheet against Samrat in the court on November 26, 2020. In the charge sheet, the Samrat has been accused of acquiring 222 crore 88 lakh 62 thousand 493 taka of known non-income assets. In this case, the date of hearing regarding the framing of charges is scheduled on June 9.
