HC suo moto rule questions acquittal of SQ Chy’s wife, son in verdict leak case

The High Court has questioned the acquittal of Salauddin Quader Chowdhury’s wife and son from charges of leaking his war crimes verdict.

The bench of justices Enayetur Rahim and JBM Hassan issued the suo moto rule on Tuesday, after hearing arguments over the legality of an appeal filed by a person who was sentenced in the case.

Assistant Attorney General Shahidul Islam, who was part of the team representing the State, said the court had instructed them to come up with explanations by four weeks.

It also ordered the executed war criminal's spouse and son to surrender before the trial court within six weeks of receiving the order's copy. They will be able to seek bail.

On Sep 15, the Bangladesh Cyber Tribunal acquitted the mother and son of the charges but convicted Salauddin Quader's lawyer Fakhrul Islam, who has been slapped with a 10-year prison term.

Salauddin Quader's wife Farhat appeared in the court for the verdict delivery.

The court delivered the verdict, with her son Hummam Quader Chowdhury absconding. The family claims, though, that he was picked up by law enforcers in August.

The Dhaka Metropolitan Police, however, said that Hummam was not in their custody.​

The court also found four others guilty and sentenced them to seven years each in jail.

One of them, Salauddin Quader's manager Mahbubul Ahsan, moved the High Court against the verdict.

His counsel Md Sazzad Ali said the court on Tuesday heard the merit of the appeal and accepted it.

On Oct 1, 2013, the ICT sentenced Salauddin Quader to death. He was hanged after the Supreme Court upheld his punishment.

But before the ICT verdict was announced, the BNP leader’s wife, other members of the family and lawyers had displayed ‘copies of the verdict’ to journalists, claiming they had found them on the Internet.

Amid a furore, the war crimes tribunal admitted that the draft of the verdict had indeed been leaked and the tribunal registrar lodged a General Diary with Shahbagh Police Station the next day.

Two days later, the Detective Branch (DB) of police initiated the case under the Information and Communication Technology Act. Police pressed charges against the seven in August 2014.

The trial went underway before the Cyber Tribunal in February this year through an indictment against the seven.