Ex-Chief Justice Sinha gets 11 years in prison over graft case

A Dhaka court has sentenced former Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha to 11 years in prison on two counts of graft in a case over the laundering of Tk 40 million from the Farmers Bank, now known as Padma Bank.

Sinha, who has lived abroad for the past four years, is the first former chief justice to be convicted of graft.

Judge Sheikh Nazmul Alam of the Special Judge's Court-4 announced the verdict in the case on Tuesday afternoon.

The 10 others accused in the case by the Anti-Corruption Commission are – AKM Shamim, former managing director of Farmers Bank, its former senior executive vice president Gazi Salauddin, first vice president Swapon Kumar Ray, senior vice president Md Ziauddin Ahmed, first vice president Shafiuddin Askary, vice president Md Lutful Haque, Tangail residents Md Shahjahan, Niranjan Chandra Saha, Ranajit Chandra Saha and his wife Shanti Ray.

Two of the suspects – Shahjahan and Niranjan - have been acquitted.

AKM Shamim has been sentenced to four years in prison, while the eight other suspects have received three years in prison each.

“SK Sinha has been sentenced to seven years in prison for money laundering and another four years for graft,” said a lawyer for the defence. “He has also been fined Tk 4.5 million.”

Both of Sinha’s sentences can be served simultaneously, meaning he will only have to serve a total of seven years in prison. Another six months will be added to his prison sentence if he fails to pay the fine. Another Tk 7.8 million in frozen assets was handed over to the state.

The ACC started the case on Jul 10, 2019. In October 2018, ACC Chairman Iqbal Mahmood said the commission had found ‘evidence’ of fraud involving transactions of Tk 40 million borrowed by two so-called businessmen, Shahjahan and Niranjan, from the Farmers Bank.

The national antigraft agency later launched an investigation into allegations that the fund was deposited in Sinha’s bank account, credited as the proceeds of the sale of his house.

Sinha came under fire from the ruling Awami League over the verdict on the 16th amendment to the constitution and left the country on leave in October 2017.

Later, he became the first chief justice of the country to quit when he submitted his resignation from overseas, 81 days before the end of his term.

After his resignation, the Supreme Court said in a rare statement that Sinha had been facing 11 specific charges, including corruption, money laundering, financial irregularities and moral blunder.