HC bans film, drama on wrongly imprisoned Jahalom until case is resolved

The High Court has imposed a restriction on the production of any film or drama based on the story of jute mill worker Jahalom, who served three years in jail after being wrongly accused of loan fraud.

The bench of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice KM Hafizul Alam passed the order on Wednesday after a petition by the Anti-Corruption Commission, or ACC.

The restriction will be effective until a previous rule issued by the High Court questioning the validity of Jahalom’s wrongful arrest is settled.

On Tuesday, the ACC filed a petition with the High Court seeking a restriction on the making of a film on Jahalom.

Lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan represented the ACC in Wednesday’s hearing while Deputy Attorney General Zahid Sarwar Kajal represented the state.

"I submitted a plea yesterday on behalf of the Anti-Corruption Commission regarding a case involving Jahalom. No cinema, drama, short film or anything similar can be made until the rule issued by the court in the Jahalom case is disposed. The court has issued a ban,” Khurshid Alam told reporters.

The ACC in 2014 prosecuted one Abu Saleque in 26 cases on charges related to loan fraud involving Tk 185 million from Sonali Bank.

The officials of the bank, however, identified Jahalom as Saleque and the jute mill worker was arrested in 2016.

The court issued an order to free Jahalom following a report published in a newspaper and featured by a television channel in February.