STAFF CORRESPONDENT

In the full text of a verdict released yesterday, the High Court observed that the country should be ruled not by the corrupt but by those who are honest and have the highest level of integrity.

“We, the people of this country, got independence at the cost of the lives of 30 lakh martyrs and the supreme sacrifices of two lakh heroic women. It is therefore the court’s expectation that our country be ruled by law, free from all sorts of exploitation,” the HC bench of Justices Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Khizir Hayat Lizu said in the 281-page full-text verdict.

On May 30, the bench delivered the verdict affirming the trial court judgement that had convicted and sentenced BNP leader and former state minister Aman Ullah Aman to 13 years imprisonment and his wife Sabera Aman to three years in jail in a corruption case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) during the caretaker government rule from 2007-08.

ACC lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan told The Daily Star that Aman Ullah Aman and Sabera Aman, who had been on bail till the delivery of the HC judgment, cannot participate in elections as per Article 66 (2) (d) of the Constitution.

In the full text of the verdict, the HC directed Aman and Sabera to surrender before the lower court concerned in 15 days after receiving the judgment of the lower court concerned.

“Both the corrupt and the corrupter are indictable and answerable to society and the country as a whole. Political corruption occurs when an office-holder or other governmental employees act in an official capacity for personal gains.

“Politicians should engage in politics with a view to sacrificing themselves for the welfare of the people and the country and it is a kind act of great sacrifice and dedication for the wellbeing of the people and the country as well. Politics cannot be a tool to make money and amass properties and being protectors, the politicians cannot be predators,” the HC said in the full-text verdict.