The New Nation - Internet Edition

UNB, Dhaka

The High Court yesterday denied interim bail to former Health Minister Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim who faces a Tk 3 crore extortion case along with his cousin, former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

A two-member Division Bench panel of Justice Khademul Islam Chowdhury and Mashuque Hosain Ahmed, however, issued a rule against the government to explain in two weeks why trial proceedings should not be declared unlawful. Azam J Chowdhury, managing director of East Coast Trading (Pvt) Ltd, lodged the First Information Report (FIR) with Gulshan police station on June 10, 2007, accusing Selim of extortion.

The case is now pending with a special court set up at high-security parliament building complex that deals with high profile corruption cases.

The same bench following a writ petition granted interim bail for three months to Chittagong City Corporation Mayor ABM Mohiuddun Chowdhury in an income-tax evasion case on health ground.

Granting the interim bail, the bench issued a rule upon the government and the National Board of Revenue (NBR) to explain why the case should not be declared illegal.

The bench also asked the authorities to return his Passport seized during his arrest on March 7 last year.

Meanwhile, another HC bench of Justice Sharif Uddin Chaklader and Justice M Emdadul Haque Azad on separate petitions granted interim bail for two months to ex-BNP ministers Altaf Hossain Chowdhury and Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, and ex-BNP lawmaker Salahudin Ahmed of Demra in connection with corruption cases.

The bench, staying the case proceedings for two months, also issued separate rules asking the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to explain why the cases should not be quashed.

The same Bench also granted bail for two months to ex-state minister Obaidul Quader of Awami League in a case of amassing wealth illegally and hiding information about it.