Court accepts Ilias Kanchan's defamation suit against Shajahan Khan

A Dhaka court has accepted a Tk 1 billion defamation lawsuit filed by road safety activist Ilias Kanchan against former minister Shajahan Khan.

Dhaka's First Joint District Judge Utpal Bhattacharjee ordered Shajahan to provide a written statement on the matter after taking cognisance of the case on Thursday.

Ilias, the chairperson of Nirapad Sarak Chai Movement, filed the lawsuit on Tuesday after the former minister suggested that he had been amassing wealth illegally.

"Where does Ilias Kanchan get his money from and what's the amount? What's the motive for the money he is getting? How much of it is under his name and how much is under his son's and daughter-in-law's names -- I'll reveal everything," the petition quotes the transport leader Shajahan as saying at an event in Rupganj on Dec 8 last year.

Ilias refuted the statement as a lie and gave Shajahan a 24-hour ultimatum to retract his statement.

But Shajahan did not withdraw his statement or apologise for it, prompting the actor to file the lawsuit, according to Ilias' legal counsel Md Rezaul Karim.