Charges framed against ex-CJ, 10 others

A Dhaka court has framed charges against former Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha and 10 others in a money laundering case filed by Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).

Judge Sheikh Nazmul Alam of Dhaka Special Judges Court-4 passed the order on Thursday. 

The other accused in the case are Gazi Salahuddin, senior executive vice president and former head of credit division, Swapan Kumar Roy, first vice president (Credit division), Shafiuddin Askari Ahmed and Md Lutful Haque, first vice presidents of the Gulshan Corporate Branch of the Farmers Bank, M Mahbubul Haque Chisti, entrepreneur director and chairman of Audit Committee of the Farmers Bank, and Mohammad Shahjahan, Niranjan Chandra Saha, Santri Roy Simi and Ranjit Chandra Saha.

Earlier on January 5, another Dhaka court accepted the charges and issued arrest warrants against all the accused as they have been shown fugitives in the charge sheet.

On December 10 last year, the Anti-Corruption Commission pressed charges against the 11 persons in connection with the case.

On July 10, 2019, ACC filed the case on charge of misappropriating and laundering about Tk 4 crore from Farmers Bank in 2016.

Sinha, went on leave on October 2, 2017, and left for Australia on October 13 amid dispute over some of his observations over the 16th Amendment verdict. 

A day after Sinha’s departure 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, Sinha resigned from his post of chief justice.