HC fines Sikder brothers 10,000 PPE

The High Court yesterday fined Sikder Group Managing Director Ron Haque Sikder and his brother Dipu Haque Sikder for seeking anticipatory bail from abroad in a case filed over abducting, torturing and opening fire at two top Exim Bank officials over a loan permission.

Rejecting their bail petition, an HC virtual bench ordered the siblings, currently in Thailand, to give 5,000 personal protective equipment (PPE) each as fine to the Prime Minister's Relief and Welfare Fund in two weeks in order to contain the Covid-19 pandemic.

Ron and Dipu have also been asked to file a report with the Supreme Court registrar general's office after submitting the PPE to the fund.

The HC bench of Justice Md Ashraful Kamal passed the order after holding hearing on the anticipatory bail petition filed by the two brothers.

Contacted, Attorney General Mahbubey Alarm said there was no legal bar to arrest accused Ron and Dipu following the HC order.

He also said during the hearing on the bail petition, the court expressed dissatisfaction at the lawyers of the two brothers for supporting them in filing petition from abroad.

During hearing, the attorney general vehemently opposed the bail petition staying that the accused cannot seek anticipatory bail from the virtual HC bench while staying abroad.

The accused must surrender before the subordinate court concerned for securing bail, he said, adding that only the trial proceedings, including recording statements of witnesses, can be run virtually without their physical presence.

Barrister Ajmalul Hossain QC, senior counsel for the accused siblings, told the HC bench that his clients filed the bail petition using the virtual system under the Usage of Information Technology in Court Act, 2020.

The law has permitted virtual filing of any petition, he said, adding that an accused can file such a bail petition in a particular situation involving his fundamental rights.

Deputy Attorney General Bashir Ahmed, who also represented the state during the hearing, told this newspaper that the HC fined accused Ron and Dipu as they filed the bail petition illegally and wasted the court's time.

He said Barrister Ajmalul argued that the accused filed the petition virtually from abroad, but they did not virtually appear before the HC during the hearing on the petition yesterday.

DAG Bashir said the details of the court's observation and grounds on which it passed the order would be known once it releases the full text of the order.

Advocate Muhammad Saifullah Mamun, who filed the petition on behalf of the accused, instantly could not say in detail about the HC order and proceedings.

The two brothers had jointly filed the petition on July 2 through Advocate Saifullah seeking anticipatory bail in the case.

Exim Bank Director Lt Col (retired) Sirajul Islam had lodged the case with the capital's Gulshan Police Station on May 19 against Ron and Dipu for allegedly torturing two top officials of the bank and opening fire at them over a Tk 500 crore loan.

The accused reportedly left the country by air on May 25.