Ruling Awami League lawmaker from Cox’s Bazar Abdur Rahman Badi yesterday filed an appeal with the High Court challenging a lower court verdict that sentenced him to three years in jail and fined Tk 10 lakh for hiding information about his wealth from the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). Badi sought acquittal order from the High Court saying that the trial court verdict had not rightly convicted him in the case. After filing the appeal, Advocate Nashreen Siddiqua Lina, counsel for Badi, told reporters that another petition would be filed before the High Court seeking bail for the Cox’s Bazar-4 constituency lawmaker in the case. The HC is yet to fix any date to hear the appeal, she added.
Earlier on November 2, a Dhaka court sentenced Badi to three years in jail and fined Tk 10 lakh for hiding information about his wealth from the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). Badi would have to serve another three months in jail if he failed to pay the fine.
Judge Abu Ahmed Jamadar of the special judge’s court delivered the verdict in Badi’s presence as it found him guilty of the charge of concealing information about property worth Tk. 3.99 crore in his wealth statement. However, the court acquitted Badi of the charge of amassing wealth illegally.
The ACC filed a case at Ramna police station in Dhaka on August 21, 2014, accusing the ruling party MP of amassing wealth illegally and concealing information in his wealth statement. It alleged that Badi had provided false information in his affidavit submitted to the Election Commission in 2008 and 2013, and had concealed information about his personal wealth worth Tk. 10.87 crore. Badi was arrested and put in jail for three weeks in October 2014 over the case. He later secured bail from the High Court. On May 7 last year, the ACC’s investigating officer, deputy director Manjil Morshed, submitted the charge-sheet against Badi in the court. The charge-sheet said Badi had accumulated more than Tk. 6.3 crore disproportionate to the known sources of his income, and that he had concealed information from the ACC about assets worth more than Tk. 3.9 crore.On September 8 last year, the court framed charges against Badi and started the trial on October 6.