SC voids HC suo moto rule

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court today discharged the High Court Division's suo moto rule that had ordered an investigation into S Alam Group's wealth abroad.

However, the apex court said the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unity (BFIU) can take legal steps on the matter on their own.

A six-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Obaidul Hassan delivered the verdict. Other five judges of the bench are Justice Borhanuddin, Justice M Enayetur Rahim, Justice Md Ashfaqul Islam, Justice Md Abu Zafor Siddique and Justice Jahangir Hossain Selim.

At one stage of the hearing, the chief justice forbade the press from reporting on the exchange between the bench and the lawyers, and said violators would face contempt charges.

The chief justice also said the full text of the verdict, which is yet to be released, will contain the details of the judgment.

On August 6 last year, the High Court questioned the "inaction and failure" of government bodies like ACC and BFIU in taking appropriate legal steps against the owner of S Alam Group for reportedly amassing huge wealth abroad without Bangladesh Bank's permission after The Daily Star ran a report on his offshore businesses.

The HC had also asked the Bangladesh Bank governor and the head of BFIU to clarify whether the central bank had permitted S Alam Group to take the "money in question" abroad from Bangladesh and submit their reports to the HC as early as possible, preferably in two months.

The HC ruling came two days after this newspaper ran an investigative report headlined "S Alam's Aladdin's lamp". The Daily Star investigation, based on official documents, found S Alam Group owner Mohammed Saiful Alam built a business empire in Singapore worth at least about USD 1 billion, although there is no record of him taking any permission from the central bank to invest or transfer any funds abroad.

S Alam's lawyers had filed a petition challenging the HC's probe order.

At today's hearing, senior lawyer Ajmalul Hossain representing S Alam argued that press freedom is subject to restrictions and that The Daily Star should rather have given its findings to the ACC, and publish the story only if the ACC failed to take action.

Ahsanul Karim, also representing S Alam, said, "The High Court has predetermined their [S Alam's] guilt -- the court is stepping into the shoes of the prosecutor. No person can be a judge and a prosecutor at the same time."

Representing the ACC, senior lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan argued that suo moto rulings are an important instrument of judicial activism.

"Suo moto rules have previously been given based on newspaper articles," he maintained.

SC lawyer Syed Sayedul Haque Suman, also a member of parliament, had placed The Daily Star report before the HC and sought necessary directives last year.

He represented himself at the hearing today and submitted that the main agenda of this government is to fight corruption and that there is a risk of negative public perception if S Alam is not investigated.

Khurshid Alam told The Daily Star after the SC ruling that the court's observation is binding upon the ACC, meaning the commission may launch an enquiry on its own.

"Nobody will stop the ACC and BFIU from investigating S Alam now. They can voluntarily start the probe -- that is the takeaway of the [Supreme Court] order," Syed Suman said after the SC verdict.