Ariful Chowdhury, husband of Dr Sabrina Sharmin Hossain, chairperson of JKG Health Care, today challenged the judgment of the lower court that sentenced him to 11 years of rigorous imprisonment in a case filed over issuing fake Covid-19 certificates.

The JKG's chief executive officer filed an appeal with the Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court, Dhaka Metropolitan Additional Public Prosecutor Tapash Kumar Pal confirmed The Daily Star.

Sabrina and six others are yet to file any appeals challenging the legality of the sentence, court sources said.

Judge (In charge) Syeda Hafsa Jhuma of Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court fixed September 25 for hearing on the appeal.

On July 19, Tofazzal Hossain, Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate in Dhaka, sentenced Ariful, his wife Sabrina and six others to 11 years of rigorous imprisonment in the case.

According to the verdict, JKG Health Care was set up two months before the Directorate General of Health Services gave it the approval of collecting samples to test for Covid-19 even though the organisation had no prior experience in this regard.

Violating all rules and regulations, it collected samples from people and supplied Covid-19 certificates without running tests.