Put them before people’s court

The High Court has observed in a verdict that it is about time corrupt military and civil officials and staffers, and judges were put before the court of people in order to establish the rule of law.

"Some unscrupulous government officials and employees are looting the hard-earned money of hardworking farmers and labourers. It's high time corrupt military and civil public officials and staffers, and judges and justices were put before the court of people. Only then it will be possible to establish the rule of law," the HC bench of Justice Md Ashraful Kamal and Justice Razik-Al-Jalil said in the full text verdict.

The 123 pages of the verdict's full text were released recently.

The HC bench delivered the shorter verdict on February 4, 2020, on a writ petition filed over the ownership of a vested property in Savar.

Savar Thana Osohay Poribar Punorbason Bohumukhi Samobay Samity Ltd filed the petition challenging a lower court verdict that ordered the release of a land of vested property measuring 15.74 acres at Gandharia Mouza in Savar in the possession of Sree Madhob Chandra Saha Poddar and his now-dead brother Sree Ruhi Chandra Saha Poddar from North Kalshi in Dhaka's Mirpur area.

In the full text, the HC said the hard-earned money of Bangladesh's farmers, labourers, garment workers, and all working people and foreign-currency earning people… are the source of food for the salaried officials, staff members, judges, justices, and military and civil forces.

"All needs of our families, including education, are arranged from the hard-earned money of farmers and workers. They give their hard-earned money to us salaried people so that we can perform our responsibilities with honesty, competence, neutrality and patriotism."

They added, "Our diligent labourer brothers and sisters don't take part in corruption, nepotism or looting assets of the country. A handful of officials and staffers loot the resources of the country."

The HC bench said the people have kept their faith in judges to look after their property. Therefore, the judges' responsibility is to ensure that no frauds, hypocrites and cheats grab public property.

But it is crystal clear that the wisdom of the judge was not reflected in the verdict delivered by the lower court concerned. The judgment was not delivered on detailed grounds, the HC bench observed in the full text verdict.

The HC said the owner of the land worth around Tk 1,000 crore has not paid the holding tax of the municipality There are no documents of electricity bills, and the owner has failed to show any certificate from local elected representatives.

The HC also said that the so-called claimant of the ownership of the land worth around a thousand crore has been able to build only a tin-shed house over the 40-50 years. Sree Madhob Chandra Saha Poddar has failed to explain why he has been living in a rented house in Kalshi of Mirpur instead of living on his own land in Savar.

In the affidavit, he did not mention the holding number of his residence in Kalshi, which means the applicant (Madhob Chandra Saha Poddar) is in fact a fake.

Madhob has mentioned in the affidavit that his religion is Islam and by doing so, has committed forgery with the court, the HC said in the full text verdict.

The HC fined him Tk 1 crore for committing fraud with the court and scrapped the verdict delivered by the lower court concerned on November 2, 2020, in the case regarding the property.

The HC also directed the deputy commissioner of Dhaka to take necessary steps to establish a park titled "Khetra Mohan Savar Shishu Park" on the land for children.

The court asked the authorities concerned to send a copy of its verdict to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to draw her special attention to protect lands worth crores from looters and collaborators of Pakistan occupation forces.

They thanked Savar Thana Osohay Poribar Punorbason Bohumukhi Samobay Samity Ltd for initiating the legal battle to protect and preserve the land in Savar.

Writ petitioner Habib-Un-Nabi, lawyer for Savar Thana Osohay Poribar Punorbason Bohumukhi Samobay Samity Ltd, told The Daily Star that his client is a lessee of the land at Gandharia Mouza in Savar, whose original owner Khetra Mohan went to India during India-Pakistan war in 1965. The property was then included as enemy property in line with the census list and subsequently the land was included as vested property.

Madhob Chandra Saha Poddar had gotten the order from the lower court concerned in their favour by submitting forged documents before it.

During hearing the writ petition, the HC called for the lower court records of the case and after examining the documents, it found that Madhob Chandra had gotten the verdict from the lower court concerned through forged documents.

The writ petitioner also prayed to the HC to pass necessary directives so that the land is protected and preserved properly, Habib-Un-Nabi added.

Madhob Chandra Saha Poddar's lawyer Md Moniruzzaman could not be contacted for his comments on the issue.