Dhaka, 07 Jan – The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Sunday rejected the petition of former minister Nazmul Huda about his surrender before a lower court in a bribe case.Now, Huda a former BNP minister must surrender before the court within 45 days, said the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) lawyer Advocate Khurshid Alam.
A five-member bench of the Appellate Division, headed by acting Chief Justice Md Abdul Wahhab Miah, rejected the petition citing that it was ‘not moved properly’. Huda sought permission of the apex court to file an appeal against a High Court verdict before surrendering to the lower court.
On March 21, 2007, the ACC filed the case against Nazmul Huda and his wife Barrister Sigma Huda for taking Tk 2.40 crore as bribe from a businessman. Later, on August 27 the same year, a special judge court convicted the couple and sentenced Huda to seven years of imprisonment while Sigma Huda to a three-year imprisonment.
Huda and Sigma filed a petition with the High Court challenging the verdict. On March 20, 2011 the High Court acquitted them. Later, the ACC filed an appeal with the Appellate Division while the Appellate Division scrapped the High Court order for fresh hearing. While the High Court on November 8 last year commuted the term of imprisonment of Nazmul Huda to four years from seven years in the case. – Special Correspondent
