& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Transfer of High-Profile Graft Cases

5 special courts inactive

Ashutosh Sarkar
Five special courts dealing with some high profile corruption cases involving Niko, Gatco and Barapukuria coal mine now remain inactive as these cases have been transferred to other courts.
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) had filed the cases during the immediate past caretaker government.
On December 22 last year, the law ministry issued a notification transferring the graft cases from the special court Nos. 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10, to the special court Nos. 1,2,3,4 and 5 in Dhaka.
All die 10 courts, which were set up on die Jadya Sangsad Bhaban premises during die caretaker government, have
now been shifted to die Dhaka Judges'Court area.
ACC's panel lawyer Advocate Khurshid Alam Khan told The Di\ily Star that die court Nos. 6.7,8,9 and 10 have virtually nothing to do except send the persons convicted earlier by die same courts to jai 1 on their surrender to the courts.
These five courts now have no jurisdiction to carry out trial proceedings of any cases following die government notification, he said, adding that at least 50 high profile corruption cases, including Niko, Gatco and Barapukuria cases, had remained pending in these courts.
As a result, Khurshid Alam Khan said, he could not move a corruption case against former BNP minister Khandaker
Mosharraf Hossain at Special Court No. 8.
The Supreme Court on October 20 last year cleared die way for the trial court to go ahead with the case proceedings by overturning a High Court order that stayed the proceedings of the case filed against Mosharraf Hossain for amassing illegal wealth and concealing the information about it.
Khurshid Alum also said the government has no jurisdiction to issue such a notification transferring the cases pending in a special court to another special court.
Unless and until the notification is withdrawn, the proceedings of the cases transferred to other courts may become illegal, he added.
"I have already urged the
ACC authorities to take steps for the withdrawal of the notification, but to no avail," he said.
According to laws, only the Metropolitan Senior Special Judge has the jurisdiction to send the cases pending with (uiy special courts to another court, he said, adding that the High Court can also order any subordinate court to transfer any cases to another court followingany petitions.
According to Section 4(3) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) Amendment Act 1958, only the Metropolitan Senior Special Judge may transfer, at any stage of the trial, any case from the court of one special judge to the court of another special judge having jurisdiction within the same territorial limits.