No corrupt person will be spared

The High Court yesterday warned that it will not spare any corrupt people no matter how powerful they are -- be it ministers or lawmakers.

Nobody is above the law, said the HC bench of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice Mohi Uddin Shamim.

The court said this at the hearing of a petition from Shariful Islam Jinnah, Jatiya Party lawmaker from Bogura-2. The lawmaker sought anticipatory bail in a corruption case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission for amassing wealth illegally and concealing wealth information.

Shariful's lawyer Sheikh Sirajul Islam told the HC bench that his client is a freedom fighter and is now 73. The corruption case was filed against him to tarnish his image and harm his dignity.

In response, the HC bench said it is not right that a lawmaker's dignity will be damaged if a case is filed against him.

Had the accused lawmaker surrendered to lower court and sought bail, his dignity would have enhanced and people would have considered it as an example, it pointed out.

The bench granted anticipatory bail to Shariful for three weeks. It also ordered the lawmaker, who was present at the court, to surrender before the trial court concerned in three weeks.

Deputy Attorney General AKM Amin Uddin Manik told The Daily Star that the lawmaker in his bail petition mentioned that he is a regular tax payer and the National Board of Revenue has never raised questions over his tax returns.

ACC lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan opposed the bail petition.

The ACC filed the case with its Dhaka Integrated District Office-1 on February 2 against Shariful for submitting a false Tk 69-lakh wealth statement and for failing to explain the source of Tk 1.6 crore income.