Case filed against bdnews24.com editor Khalidi has been withdrawn
After four years of harassment, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has withdrawn the harassment case against the editor-in-chief of online news portal bdnews24.com, Tawfiq Imroz Khalidi, on charges of 'acquiring illegal wealth'.
ACC Special PP Mahmud Hossain Jahangir said that the order to block the bank account related to the case has also been revoked.
In the application to withdraw the case signed by ACC Commissioner Md. Zahurul Haque, it is said that the ACC has decided to withdraw the prosecution of the case under the provisions of Section 10(4) of the Criminal 'Law' Amendment Act 1958 and Section 495 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Therefore, it is necessary to exempt them from all liability if any of their assets are seized, blocked and banned from going abroad, including the withdrawal of charges against the accused.
On July 30, 2020, ACC Deputy Director Gulshan Anwar filed the case against Taufiq Imroz Khalidi as the lead plaintiff for allegedly acquiring illegal assets. A charge sheet was filed in the court in this case on April 25.
It is said in the complaint that Taufiq Imroz Khalidi has deposited Tk 42 crore in various accounts of HSBC, Eastern Bank Limited, South East Bank Limited and Mutual Trust Bank Limited without any legitimate income. It is alleged in the case that he obtained this money by 'fraudulent documents'. He was also accused of money laundering.
Taufiq Imroz Khalidi has always denied these allegations against him. He told the court, "This allegation is so ridiculous, irrational and baseless that it deeply questions the credibility of the Anti-Corruption Commission and the concerned state institutions."
The four-year legal battle
The ACC's investigation into the matter began two weeks after it published on its own portal a report on bdnews24.com receiving an investment of Tk 50 crore from asset management firm LR Global Bangladesh in late 2019.
The ACC filed a case eight and a half months later alleging that the investment money was acquired through 'illegal process'. According to the statement, Tawfiq Imroz Khalidi deposited Tk 42 crore in various accounts in four banks, of which the ACC could not find 'any legitimate source'.
Then three years and nine months passed. ACC has repeatedly tried to block the bail of Taufiq Imroz Khalidi, but to no avail. Rather, the High Court has issued a ruling on Taufiq Imroz Khalidi's application. It has been asked why the case should not be dismissed.
Before the ruling was settled, the commission recently called the investigating officer of the case, ACC Deputy Director Gulshan Anwar Pradhan from her current place of work in Mymensingh to give a report. After she submitted the complaint, it was approved in the commission meeting on April 18.
Later, the ACC changed its statement and said that 43 crore 57 lakh 76 thousand 467 taka has been 'frozen' or blocked in HSBC, Eastern Bank Limited, South East Bank Limited and Mutual Trust Bank Limited as the parent company and editor-in-chief of bdnews24.com which has no valid source'.
It was also said in the statement of the ACC that the money from the sale of the company's shares was deposited in those accounts. But the ACC says in the chargesheet that Taufiq Imroz Khalidi acquired the wealth through 'dishonest means', which is 'not consistent' with his reported income.
According to this reason, the ACC is proposing to approve the charge sheet under Section 27 (1) of the Anti-Corruption Commission Act, 2004 and Section 4(2) and 4(3) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2012.
One of Taufiq Imroz Khalidi's lawyers had earlier pointed to the repeated changes in the written language of the ACC at all stages — searches, summons and statement of cases.
The ACC went to the Supreme Court in 2020 to cancel his bail, but the Appellate Division asked the Commission's lawyer why he was 'wasting the time' of the Appellate Division by bringing these petitions.
The editor-in-chief of bdnews24.com filed an application in the High Court in the second week of April 2022 to quash the case in the interest of justice, describing it as 'frivolous'.
According to his petition, the affidavit filed by the ACC does not have prima facie substance as per law. The case is 'frivolous, confusing, oppressive'. This will continue to be an abuse of the courts and legal process. Hence its proceedings are sought to be quashed 'in the interests of final justice'.
It is argued in the petition that even if the allegations made in the FIR are assumed to be true, they are not justiciable under the Anti-Corruption Commission Act.
Refuting the question raised about the source of money in the statement, Taufiq Imroz Khalidi's application said that the money was earned through transfer of shares. So, any question about the source of money for the shares sold should be done by the buyer of the shares.
Moreover, bdnews24.com is a private company duly registered by the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms, not listed in the capital market. Therefore, the obligation to notify the Securities and Exchange Commission for sale of shares is not applicable to bdnews24.com.
After that, the case was dated several times in two and a half years. The hearing was delayed by repeated requests from the ACC. On some dates the hearing could not be held as the ACC lawyer was not present.
In the end, the High Court bench of Justice ASM Abdul Mobin and Justice Md. Mahmud Hasan Talukdar gave the order along with the ruling on January 2 this year.
The ruling sought an explanation as to why the case filed by the ACC should not be dismissed. The ACC Chairman and the Deputy Commissioner of Dhaka were asked to respond to the ruling.
On Thursday (September 5), Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge and Senior Special Judge Justice Mohammad As Shams Jaglul Hossain accepted the application to withdraw the case and ordered the release of Taufiq Imroz Khalidi.
