SC grants bail to former minister Nazmul Huda in bribery case

The Supreme Court has granted bail to former minister Nazmul Huda in a bribery case for which he was sentenced to four years in prison by the High Court.

A four-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain issued the order on Monday.

Lawyers AF Hasan Arif, Monsurul Haque Chowdhury and Sigma Huda represented Nazmul Huda in the court while lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan stood for the Anti-Corruption Commission.

“The court accepted his leave to appeal petition. It also granted him bail. The bail will be effective until the appeal is settled,” lawyer Khurshid Alam told to media.

Barrister Nazmul Huda, who was also a former minister of BNP-led four-party alliance, formed the Trinamool BNP party after leaving the BNP. He took part in the 11th parliamentary election as an independent candidate as his party was not registered.

Huda was sentenced to seven years in prison by a lower court for taking Tk 24 million in bribes. In 2017, the High Court reduced his sentence to four years.

In November last year, the Supreme Court released the full High Court decision in the case. Huda was instructed to turn himself in within 45 days.

Judge HM Ruhul Imran of the Dhaka Special Judge’s Court-2 turned down the former BNP leader’s bail petition and sent him to jail on Jan 6.

Following the order, Huda filed a leave to appeal petition with the Supreme Court seeking bail.

The bribery case against Huda was filed at Dhanmondi Police Station by Anti-Corruption Commission Deputy Director Md Shariful Islam on Mar 21, 2007.

The case accuses Nazmul Huda and his wife Sigma Huda of accepting Tk 24 million in bribes from one Mir Zaher Hossain, who was allegedly representing a weekly publication called the ‘Khoborer Ontorale’.

On Aug 27, 2007, a Special Judge’s Court, in dealing with the case, sentenced Nazmul Huda to seven years in prison. His wife Sigma Huda received a three-year prison sentence.

Following an appeal against the court’s verdict by Nazmul Huda and Sigma Huda, the High Court overturned the sentences and acquitted them both on Mar 20, 2011. The state and the Anti-Corruption Commission subsequently filed applications with the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court for a review of the ruling.

On Dec 1, 2014, the apex court, after hearing the applications, overruled the High Court's decision and ordered a rehearing. After rehearing the case, the High Court reduced Nazmul Huda’s original seven-year prison sentence to a term of four years imprisonment.

Later, Nazmul Huda, without surrendering to the lower court, applied to the Appellate Division seeking an appeal hearing against the High Court’s decision. On Jan 7, 2018, the application was dismissed by the court.