Tarique’s hope for release gets a blow

DHAKA NEWS

Tarique’s hope for release gets a blow
Govt, ACC appeal against his bail orders; NBR sues Moudud, Pintu
The possibility of Tarique Rahman’s release hit a fresh snag yesterday after the government and the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) appealed against the High Court (HC) bail orders in seven of the 13 cases filed against him.
With this shift in the government’s policy regarding release of high-profile prisoners, immediate release of detained former prime minister and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, which is associated with the release of her eldest son Tarique, has also become unlikely.
The latest development has caused huge frustration among BNP leaders and activists who had been expecting that Khaleda and Tarique, also the senior secretary general of the party, would come out free anytime.
In another development, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) yesterday filed separate cases against detained former law minister Moudud Ahmed, former BNP lawmaker Nasiruddin Ahmed Pintu and his wife for dodging income tax for years.
Terming the government’s appeal move unfortunate, BNP Vice-President MK Anwar said, “It is another example of the government’s discriminatory behaviour with the BNP.” The government did not show such attitude in case of others who have travelled abroad for treatment after getting bail from the HC, he said.
“This is nothing but to keep Khaleda Zia under pressure,” Anwar told The Daily Star, hoping that the Supreme Court (SC) would judge the matter impartially.
Meanwhile, a section of government policymakers said they believe that releasing Khaleda and Tarique on bail might have an adverse impact on politicians and people since Awami League (AL) President Sheikh Hasina was released on an executive order.
“Release of a highly corrupt detainee like Tarique may establish him as a clean person,” said a source in the government, adding that even a new case would be filed against Tarique if the SC judgment goes in his favour.
Several advisers to the caretaker government have been saying Khaleda would be released the same way followed for Hasina.
THE APPEALS
The attorney general’s office filed the petitions on behalf of the government and the ACC for filing regular leaves to appeal with the apex court against the HC bail orders.
The attorney general’s office has also informed the jail authorities about filing of the appeals so that they do not release Tarique, sources said.
The vacation bench of chamber judge of the Appellate Division is likely to hear the petitions today.
Tarique’s counsel barrister Mahbubuddin Khokon yesterday told The Daily Star that he heard about the petitions but his advocate-on-record did not receive any copy of them.
The hearing of the stay petitions will be held at the court of the chamber judge of the Appellate Division this morning, he said.
“If the Appellate Division stays the High Court bail orders, Tarique cannot get released from jail. If the chamber judge does not stay the orders, there will not be any legal bar to his getting released,” barrister Khokon said.
A full bench of the Appellate Division earlier granted bail to Tarique after examining his medical report prepared by a medical board, so the chamber judge should not stay the HC bail orders, he added.
He said Tarique has secured bail in all the 13 cases filed against him and the HC also stayed proceedings against him in all these cases.
Responding to separate bail prayers, the HC last week granted ad interim bail to Tarique in 12 cases filed by the ACC, the government and individual persons. Even the SC granted Tarique bail on August 28 in a bribery case paving the way for his release.
Of the total 13 cases filed against Tarique, eight are for extortion and the rest for corruption, tax evasion and bribery.
CASE AGAINST MOUDUD
Moudud was sued for evading Tk 4.12 crore in income tax while Pintu and his wife Nasima Akhter Kalpana were charged with dodging Tk 11.22 crore and Tk 98.26 lakh in income tax respectively.
NBR deputy tax commissioners Hafiz Al Asad and Ayesha Siddiqui Shelly filed the cases with the Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court against them.
After the hearing, Judge Mohammad Azizul Haque recorded statements of the complainants and took the charges into cognisance against the three under the provisions of Income Tax Ordinance 1984.
The court also issued arrest warrant against Kalpana and directed the jail authorities to produce Moudud and Pintu before the court on September 3 for next hearing in the cases.
In his complaint, Asad mentioned that Moudud evaded Tk 41,232,654 in income tax from 1997 to 2006.
Moudud concealed information about his wealth worth Tk 164,930,631 from the NBR department and gave false information to the income tax department about his real income and expenditure, Asad added.
Police filed a case against Moudud on August 27 on charges of stashing away Tk 2.2 crore in a bank through forged documents. He was shown arrested in the case the same day.
The HC earlier granted bails to Moudud in three cases filed against him on different charges.
Moudud was arrested at his Gulshan residence on April 13 last year with 16 bottles of foreign liquor, 32 cans of beer and 220 pieces of sari belonging to the government relief fund.
CASE AGAINST PINTU
NBR Deputy Tax Commissioner Ayesha in her complaint said Pintu evaded Tk 112,231,777 in income tax from 2001 to 2007.
He also concealed information about his wealth worth Tk 448,927,110 from the NBR department and gave false information about his real income and expenditure, the complainant added.
Pintu, an accused in a number of cases, was sent to jail on February 12 last year after he surrendered to a Dhaka court seeking bail in two criminal cases.
CASE AGAINST KALPANA
The same complainant said Kalpana evaded Tk 9,826,314 in income tax from 2001 to 2007 and concealed information about her wealth worth Tk 23,305,265 from the NBR, the complainant added.