The High Court on Tuesday upheld the lower court’s verdicts that sentenced different terms of imprisonment to two senior leaders of main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party in cases filed against them during the army led caretaker regime in 2007-2008.
The court in the verdict asked the convicted BNP leaders — Iqbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku, Aman Ullah Aman and his wife Sabera Aman — to surrender to the lower court within two weeks.
The bench of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice Khizir Hayat delivered the verdicts after dismissing the appeals filed by Aman, Tuku and Sabera challenging the lower court verdicts on them.
The High court earlier in 2010, after hearing their appeals, acquitted the BNP leaders of the corruption charges.
The two leaders were among many convicts who were acquitted by the High Court in 2009 and 2010 on the ground that the Anti-Corruption Commission committed illegality in prosecuting the politicians and other accused on the basis of wholesale notice asking them to submit their wealth statement in February 2007, ACC lawyer Khurshid Slam Khan told New Age.
He said that the Appellate Division responding to ACC appeals revived their sentences and asked the High Court to rehear the convicts appeals afresh.
A special court on June 21, 2007 sentenced Aman to 13 years’ imprisonment for amassing wealth illegally and concealing information in his wealth statement while his wife was jailed for three years for abetting husband in acquiring the disproportionate wealth.
Iqbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku was jailed for 13 years but the Appellate Division scrapped his three years of imprisonment and directed the High Court to hear again his appeal to settle the dispute of the remaining terms of imprisonment.
