The New Nation - Internet Edition

UNB, Dhaka

Former Finance Minister M Saifur Rahman secured anticipatory bail for six months in the Gatco scam case on surrender to the High Court Sunday, a day after he returned home after treatment abroad.

Saifur, who flew to Singapore on May 7, a day before the Anti-Corruption Commission approved the charge sheet in the graft case, returned on Saturday night after a three-month stay abroad.

On May 8, the ACC approved the charge sheet against detained BNP chairperson and ex-Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, her younger son Arafat Rahman Koko and 22 others for illegally awarding the container-handling job at two container depots in Dhaka and Chittagong to Gatco, a greenhorn company.

Of the 22 other accused, eleven, including eight former ministers of the BNP-Jamaat alliance government, have been indicted in the charge sheet. The ACC filed the case on September 2 last year, amid a crackdown on politicians under a countrywide anti-corruption drive amid state of emergency declared following the past political crisis over elections issues.

On May 13, the ACC, after investigation, submitted charge sheet to the court in the case.

Granting bail following a petition, a Division Bench comprising Justice Sharif Uddin Chaklader and Justice M Emdadul Haque Azad issued rule asking the government to explain in four weeks why the petitioner "should not be granted regular bail".

Special counsel for the Anti-Corruption Commission

(ACC) Anisul Huq did not oppose the bail prayer of the veteran BNP leader and longest-serving finance minister in the country under different BNP regimes.

The ailing Saifur, now a BNP reformist leader in the changed context, arrived on the High Court premises at 3:45 pm by an Apollo hospital ambulance. Carrying a stick with him, he was later brought before the HC bench in a wheelchair during hearing on his bail petition.

While granting bail, the HC bench admitted the submissions made by the counsel that Saifur, who is sick, would get proper treatment if he remains outside and he "would not go into hiding or abroad by abusing the bail".

Earlier, the High Court has so far granted interim bail to seven of the co-accused in the Gatco case, including ex- BNP ministers Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, M Shamsul Islam and MK Anwar, and Jamaat-e-Islam chief Motiur Rahman Nizami. The HC also stayed for two months the case proceedings against principal accused Khaleda Zia and the co-accused securing interim bails.

As the journalists scrambled for his comment after securing bail, Saifur refrained from making any remark whatsoever, let alone on the present political scenario.