Publish ad in newspapers asking Sinha to turn up: Court

A court in Dhaka on Wednesday directed authorities concerned to publish an advertisement in two national dailies asking former Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha and 10 others to appear before it on February 20 in a case filed on charges of misappropriating and laundering Tk 4 crore.

Judge KM Emrul Kayes of the Senior Special Judge’s Court passed the order, reports UNB.

It had passed the order after taking cognisance of charges against them. On December 10 last, the ACC pressed charges against them in the corruption case.

The other accused are Farmers Bank’s former Managing Director AKM Shamim, Senior Executive Vice-President and former Head of Credit Division Gazi Salahuddin, first Vice-President of Credit Division Swapan Kumar Roy, first Vice-President Shafiuddin Askary, former Chairman of the bank’s Audit Committee Mahbubul Haque Chisty, Vice-President Lutful Haque and Mohammad Shahjahan, Niranjan Chandra Saha, Santri Roy Simi and Ranjit Chandra Saha.

On July 10 last, the ACC filed the case accusing the former chief justice and 10 others of accumulating illegal wealth and laundering Tk 4 crore.

On September 25, 2018, the anti-graft body summoned five officials of the Farmers Bank Ltd for interrogation over the deposit of Tk 4 crore in SK Sinha’s account with the Supreme Court bank of Sonali Bank Ltd.

On May 6, 2018, the ACC interrogated two businessmen – Md Shahjahan and Niranjan Chandra Saha – for allegedly taking Tk 4 crore in loan from the Farmers Bank using fake documents and depositing the money in the bank account of a VVIP.

SK Sinha went on leave on October 2, 2017 and left for Australia on October 13 amid a row over some of his observations in the 16th amendment verdict.

Just before his departure, he had told reporters that he was not sick, contradicting the government’s claim that he went on leave on health grounds.

A day after SK Sinha’s trip to Australia, the Supreme Court issued a statement, saying he was facing 11 charges, including graft, moral turpitude and money laundering.

On November 11, 2017, he resigned from his post of the Chief Justice of Bangladesh.