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LAW week
Manju jailed for 7yrs in bribery case
A special court sentenced Jatiya Party (JP-Manju) Chairman Anwar Hossain Manju to seven years' rigorous imprisonment (RI) in a bribery case. Besides, another special court gave Rajib Siraj Opu, son of former BNP lawmaker Shahjahan Siraj, five years' RI in a graft case the same day.
Judge Khandaker Kamal Uz-Zaman of the Special Court-9 on the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban premises also handed down two years' simple imprisonment to Manju's wifeTasmima Hossain and his cousin Mahmood Hossain for aiding and abetting Manju in taking the bribe. The court also fined the JP leader Tk 75 lakh. Also a former communications minister, Manju will have to serve one more year behind bars if he fails to pay the fine. Tasmima and Mahmood were also fined Tk 5 lakh each, in default of which they would have to spend six months more in prison. As all the three are absconding and were tried in absentia, their sentences will come into effect the day of their arrest or surrender. - The Daily Star, June 11,2008
ACC permitted to quiz Khaleda, Koko for graft A Dhaka court gave the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) permission to interrogate BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia at her subjail gate in connection with misappropriation offunds from the Zia OrphanageTrust.
Meantime, the same court allowed the commission to grill her youngest son Arafat Rahman Koko at jail gate in a corruption case filed for amassing illegal assets and concealing information on his wealth to the watchdog.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Golam Rabbani passed the order for quizzing Khaleda after ACC Assistant Director Nur Ahammad, also die investigation officer (IO), petitioned to that end. The IO in his petition said Khaleda needs to be grilled at jail gate as there are specific allegations of misappropriation of funds from the orphanage trust against her. - The Daily Star, June 11,2008
Truth commission office set up
The government has set up the office of the much-talked-aboutTruth and Accountability Commission and started appointment of the necessary staff so that the commission may start functioning immediately after its formation.
The commission is going to publish notifications in different newspapers and other mass media to inform all about its objective and jurisdiction and the people's right to make voluntary disclosure before it.
With the aim to curb corruption and reduce the massive load of corruption cases through quick adjudication within 30 days of filing, it will function for five months from the day of formation. It however will have some more days to carry on the unfinished tasks. - The Daily Star, June 11,2008
EC to seek lifting or relaxing emergency
The Election Commission (EC) plans to meet the chief adviser in a couple of days to ask again to create an environment conducive to beginning local government elections from July, either by lifting or relaxing the state of emergency in the areas concerned.
The EC is preparing to hold polls to four city corporations and nine municipalities by announcing schedules next week and wants the government decision before the announcement of the schedule, whether the state of emergency would be lifted or relaxed for the polls, sources in the EC said.
According to the EC's plans, polls to some other municipalities will be held between August and September and then it will begin holding the long overdue elections to upazila parishads. - The Daily Star, June 11,2008
Niko Graft Case - Charge-framing hearing to resume June 16
A special court deferred charge-framing hearing in Niko graft case against Awami League President Sheikh Hasina and eight other people till June 16.
Judge Amar Kumar Roy of Special Judge's Court-2 at Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban complex set the date following time prayer from the defence.’ Hasina was not brought to the court as the judge exempted her from appearing in person during court proceedings on health grounds.
The charge sheet also mentioned that the work was given to Niko without floating any tenders, allowing it to extract 1,794 billion cubic feet (bef) of gas from an estimated reserve of 2,834 bcf. causing the country a loss of Tk 13,630.50 crore. -The Daily Star, June 11,2008
Tk l,219cr recovered from anti-graft drive
The government has recovered Tk 1,219 crore ill-gotten money from its anti-corruption drive, which has been deposited to the national exchequer, Finance Adviser Mirza Azizul Islam said in his budget speech.
Besides, the Money Laundering Prevention Ordinance, 2008 has been promulgated to prevent transfer of illegal money while Anti-Terrorism Ordinance, 2008 has also gotten the government nod. These initiatives will contribute towards facilitating international co-operation in recovering money siphoned off to foreign countries, the finance adviser observed. - The Daily Star, June 10,2008
Economy tuned to social charity
More than a budget document that addresses three key areas for any economy inflation, growth and employment the finance adviser unveiled a plan that smacks of social charity.
It is a short-term full-hearted programme to cast the social safety net wide, which was necessary for the present day crisis. In non-development expenditure, the adviser plans Tk 16,932 crore for social safety net, Tk 13,648 crore for subsidies and Tk 10,253 crore for salaries of teachers and doctors. But in doing so he misses many other exigencies and leaves unexplained areas like how to feed the furnace of such a high spending budget. Even why and how this social safety net amount will be spent is not clear although he has mentioned many new’ programmes. The largest outlay, as it seems, is Tk 2,000 crore for a new programme called 100 Days' Employment Generation.
In the end, the crucial issue that would determine the success of this 'social charter' is the capability of the revenue departments to generate money. - The Daily Star, June 10,2008
Govt asked to explain some provisions
The High Court (HC) issued a rule upon the government to explain why some provisions of the Contempt of Court Ordinance 2008, including the rules of complaining against a judge and criticising judgments, should not be declared beyond the powers of the constitution and void.
After hearing a writ petition, the HC bench of Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain and Justice Farid Ahmed issued the rule, asking secretaries to the president and the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs to reply within two weeks.
The petitioners stated that sections have curtailed the powers of the Supreme Court under Article 108 of the constitution to give orders for investigation and punishment for contempt of court and as such those provisions violate the constitution and the principles of separation of the judiciary and its independence--some of the basic features of the constitution. - The Daily Star, June 09,2008
No one is held without specific charges: IGP
Police are not arresting anyone without specific allegation during the ongoing special drive across the country. Inspector General of Police (IGP) Nur Mohammad said.
"Police are only arresting the ones who are accused in cases or have arrest warrants against them," said the police chief at the launching ceremony of official website of Chittagong range of police.
He brushed aside allegations that the special drive is politically motivated, targeting political activists and violating human rights of the innocent through harassing them. Terming the special drive a part of their routine w ork, the IGP said recent rise in incidents of murder and robbery prompted the police to launch the drive. - The Daily Star, June08,2008
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