Ershad's old case gets a hearing date

The High Court yesterday fixed November 15 for hearing a 24-year-old appeal of former president HM Ershad against a lower court verdict that jailed him for three years in a corruption case.

The bench of Justice Md Ruhul Quddus set the date after the Anti-Corruption Commission's lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan prayed on August 22 for hearing the appeal for its disposal. 

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Khurshid yesterday told The Daily Star that the then Bureau of Anti-Corruption (Bac), which became defunct after formation of the ACC in 2004, had filed the case against Ershad with Cantonment Police Station on charge of misappropriating Tk 1.91 crore by misusing powers at different times when he was the president of the state from December 11, 1983 to December 6, 1990.

On February 3, 1992, a Dhaka court convicted Ershad, also chairman of the Jatiya Party, and sentenced him to three years' imprisonment for misappropriating the money and ordered the authorities concerned to confiscate the money and his Toyota Land Cruiser car for committing corruption.

Ershad the same year had filed an appeal with the HC, challenging the lower court judgment, he said.

Following the appeal, the HC stayed the lower court verdict, he said, adding that the ACC on February 26 in 2012 became a party of the case under the HC's permission, as the Bac was not functional.

The lawyer said Ershad had obtained bail from the HC in the case.           

He, however, could not say how long Ershad had been in jail in the case. 

Advocate Khurshid said they had earlier tried to get the appeal of Ershad moved before the HC, but there was no single-judge HC bench that has jurisdiction to hear such an appeal relating to corruption.

Meanwhile, Ershad, whose party is a key ally in the Awami League-led alliance government, yesterday urged his party colleagues to strengthen the JP to achieve success in the next national elections.

"People want change and to see the Jatiya Party in power. There is a chance. As we are always in favour of polls, we will participate in the elections no matter who will take part or not,” he said.

Ershad, also a special envoy to the prime minister, was speaking at a programme at the party's Kakrial office to mark the National Youth Day organised by its youth front Jatiya Jubo Sanghati.

He, however, expressed doubt about the fairness of the upcoming district council elections.