The High Court has said that the persons convicted for more than two years in the corruption case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) are ineligible for the national elections.
The HC bench of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice KM Hafizul Alam made such observation in a verdict. The full text of the verdict was uploaded on the website of the Supreme Court on Sunday (October 22).
The HC delivered this verdict staying the sentence and fine awarded by the trial court to five BNP leaders in separate corruption cases.
Quoting the Constitution, the HC bench said that the accused sentenced for more than two years in the corruption case will be constitutionally ineligible for the national elections.
In the 44-page judgment, the court said that even if the bail or sentence is suspended, he cannot participate in the election, unless his sentence is canceled by the competent court. Pending appeal does not mean that the convicted person is innocent. Only if the sentence is set aside by a competent court will the convicted person be acquitted. There is no opportunity to participate in the elections until the penalty is cancelled.
Advocate Khurshid Alam Khan, a lawyer of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), told Bangladesh Post that if someone is sentenced to two years or more in a corruption case, then he will be constitutionally ineligible for the next parliamentary elections. The High Court passed an order interpreting Article 66(2)(d) of the Constitution. The order further states that the sentence shall never be suspended, he added.
A number of people convicted in corruption cases filed an appeal seeking stay of sentence. Because if the sentence is not suspended, they will not be able to participate in the parliamentary elections. The High Court has given a detailed explanation on that.
In the light of Indian Supreme Court and Bangladesh Supreme Court judgments, the bottom line is that whenever a person is sentenced to two years or more, he will be ineligible for parliamentary elections. A more important issue was whether the sentence was suspended or not.
Advocate Khurshid Alam Khan said that while the appeal was pending, the convicts made an application under Sections 426 and 561(a) of the Code of Criminal Procedure. In that point, the High Court said that the sentence is never suspended. May be suspended for a few days but the penalty will remain in place until the appeal is disposed of. The High Court gave a detailed explanation in the judgment, said the ACC lawyer.
Earlier on November 27 in 2018, the High Court ruled that a person cannot participate in the election while the appeal is under trial if the lower court has sentenced him to more than two years.
The order was given by rejecting the petition of five BNP leaders, including Aman Ullah Aman, seeking suspension of punishment and sentence given by the judicial court for corruption.
Advocate Khurshid Alam Khan at that time said that the High Court rejected the application of five people. In this case, the court specifically said - according to Article 66(2) of the Constitution, if a person has been sentenced to two years in a criminal case, no one can participate in the election until it is suspended in the Appellate Division. In this case, the Constitution will prevail over anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure.
