Jahlam case: HC asks for detailed report on 11 ACC officials

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) presented a report on a case, filed against 11 ACC officials, before the High Court (HC). 

However, the HC did not receive the ACC report on the ground that it did not clarify ACC action against its 11 officials in Jahlam case.  

The HC ordered the ACC lawyer to submit a fresh report by August 28, showing reasons for accusing the 11 ACC officials and issuing them show-cause notices along with their reply and relevant details.  

A HC bench, consisting Justices FRM Nazmul Ahsan and KM Kamrul, passed the order, dismissing the submitted report by the anti-graft watchdog, on Wednesday.   

Advocate Khurshid Alam Khan, an ACC lawyer, told the court that ACC decided to take action against the officials according to the Bangladesh Service Rule.

“According to the decision, ACC issued show cause notices to the involved officials. As their replies in response to the notices didn’t seem satisfactory, departmental case was lodged,” the lawyer told the court.      

The court, in turn, asked the lawyer why names of the accused ACC officials have not been mentioned in the presented report. “It’s an unclear report that requires further clarifying; hence we are not accepting it,” said the court, while ordering ACC to submit another detailed report by August 28. 

Jahlam served three years in jail after being wrongly accused in a ‘loan fraud case’. He was freed in February this year in consequence of a HC order to this effect as the case over the imprisonment of the innocent man on suspension of a loan fraud got exposed by the media.