New High Court bench assigned to hear Ershad’s appeal in 1991 graft case

A new High Court bench has been assigned to hear Jatiya Party chief HM Ershad's appeal against his conviction in a two-decade-old graft case.

On Monday, Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha assigned the bench of Justice Md Ruhul Quddus and Justice Bhishmadev Chakrabortty.

A High Court verdict on the appeal was stalled at the last moment on Thursday as two petitions by the State on the issue are yet to be disposed of.

Justice Quddus was expected to deliver its verdict in the case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) but forwarded the documents to the chief justice.

He himself brought the old appeals files forward as none of the three sides – ACC, State and the defence – informed him about those.

The ACC said it had no idea about the appeal filed by the State 25 years ago because the commission was included as party in the case later.

The State said it was not ready to shoulder the responsibility of the appeal filed during the tenure of another government because there was no instruction on it from the current government.

Ershad was accused in around three dozen cases filed after his ouster in 1990 on various charges. He was convicted in four of the cases, including the one, of which the appeal verdict was stalled on Thursday.

The former military dictator is accused of financial irregularities involving gifts worth over Tk19 million he had received as president in the case started with Cantonment Police Station on Jan 8, 1991.

Dhaka’s Special Judge’s Court sentenced him to three years in jail on Feb 3, 1992 in the case. The verdict was stayed after Ershad challenged it in High Court the same year.

Ershad is now the prime minister’s special envoy. His wife Raushon Ershad is the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament.