The court also grants Khalidi reprieve from court appearance until a chargesheet is filed
Published : 02 Jan 2024, 11:18 PM
The High Court has issued a rule asking the Anti-Corruption Commission, or ACC, why its case against bdnews24.com Editor-in-Chief Toufique Imrose Khalidi will not be quashed.
The ACC chairman and Dhaka’s deputy commissioner have been ordered to respond to the rule within four weeks.
The court also excused Khalidi from court appearances at hearings until a chargesheet is filed.
The bench of Justice ASM Abdul Mobin and Justice Md Mahmud Hassan Talukder issued the rule with orders on Tuesday after hearing a writ petition filed by Khalidi.
Lawyer Mahbub Shafique represented Khalidi while Deputy Attorney General Samira Tarannum Rabeya Miti argued for the state at the hearing.
No counsel for the ACC was present.
The legal tangles cropped up after bdnews24.com announced that an asset management company had invested Tk 500 million in the top news publisher in October 2019. The ACC then weighed in, examining the deal and subsequently starting a case against Khalidi 8.5 months later.
The ACC case states that Khalidi sold 20,000 of his shares in bdnews24.com for Tk 250 million and raised another Tk 250 million from issuing another 20,000 shares to LR Global.
The commission alleges that the actual value of the 40,000 shares is Tk 4 million, but each was sold at Tk 12,500, with Tk 12,400 as premium.
The case alleges the asset valuation report was “fake” and out of the Tk 500 million investment, Tk 420 million was deposited into accounts with four banks.
“Toufique Imrose Khalidi obtained the movable asset in an illegal way, which is inconsistent with his known income.”
Three and a half years since coming up with that claim, the ACC has yet to complete the investigation.
The written text changed in every step taken by the ACC – from investigations to summons to the first information report, a practice that a lawyer for Khalidi compared with the “tactic of moving the goalposts” by the prosecutor.
In 2020, the ACC went to the Supreme Court, challenging the bail Khalidi secured from the High Court, but the Appellate Division dismissed the ACC’s petition and rebuked it for "wasting the court's time".
Khalidi, who consistently denies any wrongdoing, petitioned the higher court for quashment of the case in the second week of April, describing it as “unsubstantial and repressive”.
Although bdnews24.com had publicised the investment in detail, the ACC accused Khalidi of gaining wealth beyond means. The ACC itself referred in the case to the reports published by bdnews24.com on the asset manager’s investment.
bdnews24.com’s Toufique Khalidi wants the scrapping of an ‘oppressive’ case, ACC seeks time
The antigraft agency sought time on several occasions after Khalidi pleaded with the High Court in April 2022 that the case be quashed. The hearing was also deferred several times as no lawyer from the ACC was present for hearings.
ACC counsel Khurshid Alam Khan in June 2022 had asked for time, saying the commission would submit an investigation report “soon”.
More than a year later, in August 2023, Khurshid said the ACC needed more time as it was not prepared for the hearing.
As the ACC lawyer was not present on Oct 10, the hearing was deferred again. The ACC lawyers sought more time on Oct 17, presenting a letter from the official investigating the case.
A judge at the time said he saw no problem in giving Khalidi reprieve from court appearance while the investigation was ongoing.
The ACC lawyer argued that such an order may hamper the investigation.
The judge then deferred the order by eight weeks.
Now the court has issued a rule with orders in favour of Khalidi.
WHAT HAPPENED IN THE HEARING
As the ACC lawyer was absent, the court asked for an update from Mahbub Shafique, the counsel for Khalidi.
He informed the court about the case, highlighting the fact that a charge-sheet has not yet been submitted. He urged the court to quash the case.
The court then said it would issue a rule. “Be dispensed with court appearance,” a judge said.
Lawyer Mahbub also petitioned for a suspension of the case proceedings.
The judge said: “Prepare the rule. We’ll see about it [quashing the case].”
WHAT DOES KHALIDI’S PETITION SAY?
Citing the Anti-Corruption Commission Act, Khalidi's petition argues that the case can be dismissed because the first information report lacks prima facie evidence to establish a case.
It describes the case as “unsubstantial, confusing and repressive”. The continuation of the case amounts to the abuse of the legal procedure. Therefore, the case should be cancelled for the sake of justice, the petitioner argues.
It further contends that the allegations laid down in the FIR do not fall under the Anti-Corruption Commission Act.
About the question raised over the source of the fund in the FIR, the petition says the funds were raised by transferring shares. Therefore, the buyer should be questioned if there is any confusion about the source of the funds.
Additionally, it is not legally binding on bdnews24.com to inform the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission as the company is not publicly traded in the capital market.
WHAT KHALIDI SAYS
After the ACC began examining the so-called allegation of corruption, Khalidi in an article detailed the circumstances under which bdnews24.com entered the deal, where the money was, why he himself sold some of his shares and what happened after the deal.
“The matter has been probed by more than one state agency—publicly as well as, may I dare say now, behind the scenes—because the allegations or rumours/gossips (spread through social media and other means in the lead-up to the ACC move) were of serious nature,” he wrote.
“The cruellest part was, those who orchestrated it all knew all too well that money only changed hands between two companies incorporated in Bangladesh and operated under Bangladesh laws. Yet the vengeful and powerful people were given free rein when they acted from behind the stage. And those who helped them spread the propaganda knew it too. And, again, those who prepared “reports” meant for people at the very top were fully aware of it too.”
“Whose purpose are they trying to serve by trying to harm arguably the lone independent news publisher in Bangladesh which has been credited with many firsts, globally and nationally?
“Why was there an attempt to tarnish the image of both bdnews24.com and the individual who runs it?” he asked.
After receiving a letter from the anti-graft agency, Khalidi appeared in the ACC twice in November 2019.
The letter received by Khalidi on Nov 5 said his statement was required in connection with the allegations of “transferring a huge amount of money” by “hiding location by himself and bdnews24.com”, and “earning wealth inconsistent with his known income through illegal activities”.
The authorities moved swiftly after bdnews24.com announced the investment by LR Global in a report on Oct 13, 2019, saying it will spend the money on the expansion of news automation and creativity.
The disclosure first prompted a decision from the Securities and Exchange Commission to “halt” the deal. For its part, the ACC soon afterwards weighed in, leaving certain bank accounts of Khalidi and bdnews24.com frozen.