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Hall-Mark Chairman

HC bench to see legality of bail

Ashutosh Sarkar
Chief Justice Md Muzammel Hossain has assigned a High Court bench to see to the legality of the conditional bail granted to Hall-Mark Group Chairman Jasmine Islam in connection with 11 loan scam cases.
Meanwhile, a Dhaka lower court yesterday extended her bail until November 4, even though Jasmine had not paid back any money to Sonali Bank.
In order to get bail, Jasmine in August pledged to pay Tk 100 crore every month to return the Tk 2,600 crore Hall-Mark Group owed FROM PAGE 16 Sonali Bank.
Court sources yesterday said Jasmine used the lengthy procedures at the High Court to her advantage and got her bail extended yesterday. They said Jasmine's lawyers prayed to the Senior Special Judge's Court in Dhaka to extend the bail, arguing that the issue was pending with the High Court.
The chief justice last week asked the High Court bench of Justice Md Rezaul Haque and Justice Cobinda Chandra Tagore to hear and dispose of the AntiCorruption Commission's petitions that sought a cancellation of Jasmine's bail.
The bench, which has around 1,500 cases, will now fix a date for hearing the ACC petitions, according to sources.
The ACC had filed 11 petitions with the High Court in August this year challenging the 11 bails granted by the Senior Special Judge's Court to
Jasmine.
The High Court bench of Justice Md Nizamul Huq and Justice Kashefa Hussain on September 1 issued a rule asking the government to explain within three weeks as to why the bails should not be cancelled.
However, the matter was then moved to the bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Md Akram Hossain Chowdhury on September 25. The bench then forwarded the petitions to the chief justice saying that the particular bench did not have the jurisdiction to deal with any case filed after 2010.
This prompted the chief justice to assign the bench of Justice Rezaul and Justice Gobinda to deal with the matter.
ACC lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan told The Daily Star that the ACC was ready to place arguments against the bail of Jasmine, as she had violated the conditions of her bail.
Jasmine had not paid back any money even though she pledged to return all the stolen money in monthly instalments, he said.
The ACC on October 4 last year filed cases against 27 top officials of Sonali Bank and Hall-Mark Group for their involvement in the biggest financial scam in the country's history.
Tanvir Mahmud, managing director of the group and allegedly the mastermind, has been arrested and is now in jail.
Hall-Mark and five other companies in connivance with officials of the staterun bank had taken Tk 3,547 crore in loans from the Ruposhi Bangla Hotel branch by using forged documents.
Hall-Mark, a little known group before the scam came to light, took out around Tk 2,600 crore alone, according to a Bangladesh Bank investigation report.