Hearing deferred in bdnews24.com’s Toufique Khalidi case as ACC lawyer fails to appear

The absence of the state-appointed lawyer without notice leaves the defence angered

A scheduled hearing on the acceptance of charges against bdnews24.com’s Toufique Imrose Khalidi has been postponed as an Anti-Corruption Commission lawyer failed to appear in court.

The absence of the state-appointed lawyer without prior notice on Wednesday drew criticism and annoyance in equal measure from the defence lawyers, who questioned the conduct of the ACC's legal representative.

Khalidi's lawyer Meah Mohammed Kausar Alam told bdnews24.com: "The public prosecutor is responsible, so why isn’t he in court? He hasn’t resigned, and as long as he is drawing a salary, he is obligated to appear."

The hearing was set in the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge Mohammed Ash-Shams Joglul Hossain, focusing on the ACC’s charges against the bdnews24.com editor-in-chief.

At the start of the proceedings, Alam, the defence lawyer, submitted a petition that the court throw out the charges without taking them into cognisance.

The judge then inquired whether a copy of the petition had been provided to the prosecution.

After confirming that it had been shared, the discussion shifted to the ACC lawyer’s absence from the hearing.

A junior prosecution lawyer told the court that the ACC's chief lawyer would not be present for the hearing, and that Advocate Mahmud Hossain Jahangir, its appointed lawyer for this court, would deal with the case.

Shahinur Islam Oni, a lawyer representing LR Global Bangladesh, a party involved in the case, said his client had filed a petition seeking return of their investment in bdnews24.com.

The court was then told that although both Khalidi and LR Global are parties to the same case, their hearing dates were scheduled separately.

In response, the judge asked when the hearing on LR Global’s petition would take place.

Upon learning that the date was set for Sept 29, the judge decided to schedule the hearing for the acceptance of the charges, the dismissal petition, and LR Global’s application for that day.

Lawyers Noman Hossain Talukder and Latifur Rahman also represented bdnews24.com at the hearing.

The case was initiated after asset management firm LR Global invested Tk 500 million in bdnews24.com in late 2019.

The ACC filed the case eight and a half months later, alleging that the investment was obtained through 'illegal means.' After a four-year investigation, the ACC's charge sheet, submitted in April this year, claimed that an amount of Tk 430 million has been discovered in bank accounts owned by the bdnews24.com editor-in-chief. The ACC says the money has been “illegally” earned and “laundered”.

Almost the entire amount invested by Bangladesh’s second largest asset management company, LR Global, remains frozen for nearly five years. The funds are held in different bank accounts belonging to Bangladesh News 24 Hours Ltd, bdnews24.com’s holding company, and Khalidi.

Under pressure from regulators Securities and Exchange Commission, LR Global is seeking to get the funds released hoping to balance the books of six mutual funds, from which the money came from.

“The charges are so laughable, illogical, and baseless that the issue will raise serious questions about the credibility of the Anti-Corruption Commission and other state institutions involved,” Khalidi said in reaction.