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The High Court has ordered to pay 15 lakh rupees as compensation to Jahalam, an innocent jute factory worker who was imprisoned for three years in place of the actual defendant in the corruption case.
The court ordered BRAC Bank to pay the money within a month of the verdict.
Faisal Kayes and Sabina Sharmin, two bank officials, delivered the verdict to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) for giving photos and information of Jahlam instead of the real defendant Abu Salek.
According to photos and information provided by BRAC Bank officials, ACC investigators found Jahalam and implicated him in a corruption case, the court observed.
A higher court of Judge FRM Nazmul Ahsan and Judge KM Kamrul Quader approved the order on Wednesday.
ACC’s lawyer, Khurshid Alam Khan, told The Daily Star that after the court’s ruling on the self-motivated rule, the High Court ordered BRAC Bank Limited to file a report through the Office of the Secretary General of the Supreme Court .
The court also ordered the ACC to remain vigilant when conducting investigations into corruption cases and appointing investigation officers so that incidents like Jahlam do not happen in the future.
The court found that the ACC investigating officers lacked negligence and competence to conduct investigations. However, they had no ill intentions to frame Jahlam.
BRAC Bank Limited’s attorney, M Asaduzzaman, was contacted for comment but could not be reached.
Between 2010 and 2011, 33 cases were brought against businessman Abu Salek for embezzlement of around 16 million rupees of Tk from Sonali Bank. In 28 of them, the ACC identified Jahalam as the defendant Abu Salek and produced indictments.
According to the bank, Abu Salek’s home is in Nagarpur upazila of Tangail. The ACC issued a subpoena accordingly. Jahalam appeared at the ACC office and said it was not Salek. Although he can write in Bengali, he cannot write in English. Jahalam was arrested on February 8, 2016 in these ACC cases. Jahalam was jailed for three years.
In January last year, the High Court issued a rule and a self-imposed order on Jahlam’s release and compensation. Jahalam was released from prison on February 3. The bank heard the rule on February 12 of this year.
