Law
week
Over 200 graft cases against bigwigs challenged
Over 200 cases filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and National Board of Revenue (NBR) against some high-profile politicians and businessmen have been challenged in the High Court (HC).
Most of these cases have same charges of amassing ill-gotten wealth, concealing wealth information, taking bribes and evasion of income taxes.
ACC counsel advocate Khursid Alam Khan recently told The Daily Star the commission has filed all the cases on the basis of documents and papers. But most of the co-accused, who are charged for abetting the prime accused in committing corruption, are getting bail in the cases, he added.
At least 20 tax evasion cases have been pending with the HC now, sources add. -The Daily Star, June 26, 2008.
'Criminals' back on scene with hope of running in polls
Many grassroots level political leaders of major parties including incumbent ward commissioners, who were allegedly involved in criminal activities, are preparing to contest in the August 4 polls to four city corporations.
Many of them already collected application forms for candidacy, although all major political parties have yet to announce their acquiescence to the local government polls before the parliamentary one. -The Daily Star, June 25, 2008.
Arrest warrant issued against 8 Huji fugitives
A Dhaka court issued arrest warrants against eight absconding Harkatul Jihad (Huji) members including Maulana Tajuddin, brother of detained former BNP lawmaker Abdus Salam Pintu, in the August 21 grenade attack case.
Metropolitan Sessions Court Judge Mohammad Azizuz Haque accepted the charge sheet of the case and took the charges into cognisance for trial after examining all relevant documents. The court directed the authorities concerned to send copies of the arrest warrants to the addresses of the absconding accused. It also fixed July 24 for returning the arrest warrants to the court. -The Daily Star, June 24, 2008.
Fresh MRP project drafted in ADP
The Department of Immigration and Passport (DIP) could start issuing machine-readable passports and visas from July next year as a Tk 560 crore fresh project for this purpose has been included in the Annual Development Programme of 2008-2009.
The project, awaiting approval, is required for Bangladesh to comply with the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) deadline of April 2010 for completing the job. "Once implemented, the Department of Immigration and Passport hopes to start issuing machine-readable passports (MRP) and machine-readable visas (MRV) from July next year," said Abdur Rob Hawlader, director general (DG) of DIP.
Four honorary consultants from the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) have been assisting the DIP for the last six months for preparing the tender documents, said a DIP official adding that besides helping in the MRP-MRV project, the four IOM consultants will also monitor the work of the consulting firm to be appointed by the DIP soon. -The Daily Star, June 24, 2008.
Personal details to be on EC website
Election Commission (EC) ensures public access to information about candidates in the August 4 polls to four city corporations and nine municipalities.
Applicants seeking candidacy must submit affidavits of personal information to returning officers (RO) during filing of the applications including details of their wealth, sources of income, backgrounds, and records of criminal cases if any existed in the past, officials in the EC Secretariat said adding that voters will have access to those information.
The EC will post the personal information of the selected candidates on its website for public viewing after July 13, the deadline for withdrawing candidacies, senior officials in the EC Secretariat said. -The Daily Star, June 23, 2008 .
Altaf charged with amassing Tk 2.5cr wealth illegally
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) pressed charges against detained former home minister Altaf Hossain Choudhury in a case filed for amassing wealth illegally and giving false information in his wealth statement submitted to the commission.
The same day, a Dhaka court rejected the bail petition of detained Sigma Huda in a case filed for taking Tk 6 lakh bribe. -The Daily Star, June 23, 2008.
No constitutional bar to holding local polls first
Eminent jurist and Gono Forum President Dr Kamal Hossain said there is no constitutional bar to holding the local government polls prior to the national elections.
“According to section 119 of the constitution, the Election Commission is free to hold the local government elections,” Dr Kamal told journalists at a press briefing at his Bailey Road residence in the capital. -The Daily Star, June 23, 2008.
Delwar seeks UN probe into 'HR violation'
Khandaker Delwar Hossain, secretary general of pro-Khaleda faction of BNP, urged the United Nations to investigate human rights violations in the country including alleged torture of Tarique Rahman, elder son of party chairperson Khaleda Zia.
"Everyone knows the human rights situation in the country. Tarique Rahman is now fighting death as his spinal cord has been damaged. But the government is not investigating the matter," he said urging the UN to initiate an investigation for collecting information. -The Daily Star, June 23, 2008.
Confusion over EPR relaxation
A confusion has arisen regarding the recent relaxation of the Emergency Powers Rules (EPR) in four city corporations and nine municipalities where local government polls will be held on August 4, since the home ministry notification did not specify the timeframe for the relaxation.
The Election Commission (EC), in its proposal sent to the government last week, had sought relaxation of EPR from the day the poll schedule was announced till publication of the election results in official gazettes, sources in the commission said. -The Daily Star, June 22, 2008.
Over 1 lakh illegal links in Wasa supply network
Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (Wasa) loses around Tk 35 crore a year because of 35 percent systems loss caused mainly by illegal connections, cracks in supply lines and underhand dealings of unscrupulous officials.
The 2,534km-long Wasa supply network in the capital and Narayanganj has over 1 lakh illegal connections, which causes the most systems loss. The Wasa is deprived of Tk 1 crore a year for 1 percent systems loss, said an official of the organisation.
Wasa Managing Director Raihanul Abedin said the number of illegal connections from Wasa supply lines is huge because the Wasa covers areas beyond the city corporation area.
"We have requested the Army through the LGRD ministry to conduct a customer survey--which will take about six months to complete--and then we will know the exact number of illegal connections," Abedin said.
The underhand dealings between the Wasa officials and employees and customers are another reason for the systems loss. These Wasa officials take bribes from the customers and prepare bills much less than the actual, thus depriving the government of huge revenue, said an official, adding, "We will take action against the officials and employees found guilty of any irregularity.” -The Daily Star, June 22, 2008.
Corresponding with the Law Desk
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