Granting bail to Samrat was not right: High Court

The High Court has scrapped the bail granted to expelled Jubo League leader and alleged casino kingpin Ismail Hossain Chowdhury Samrat and said grating his bail by the trial court in a corruption case was not the right decision.

Upon a petition moved by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on 11 May, the court on Wednesday ordered the accused to surrender to the trial court within the next week.

Challenging the bail order, the ACC said in its application that the trial court had granted bail to Samrat on health grounds. But the bail order was passed even though his medical reports had not reached the court before the hearing. 

Dhaka Sixth Special Judge Al Asad Md Asifuzzaman granted the bail in the corruption case filed for amassing wealth beyond known sources of income.

The HC bench of justices Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Kazi Md Ejarul Haque Akondo said the judge had granted bail to Samrat on the medical ground without seeing his medical reports which is a "bizarre" incident. The court warned the judge not to repeat this in the future.

ACC's lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan told journalists that the trial court had granted bail to Samrat on medical grounds although he was receiving treatment at the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) while in custody.

The expelled Jubo League leader has been undergoing treatment at the BSMMU hospital since November last year.

Earlier on 10 April, he secured bail in a money laundering case and possession of arms case. On 11 April, he was granted bail in a narcotics case. 

On 12 November 2019, ACC Deputy Director Md Jahangir Alam started the case of illegally amassing Tk2.95 crore worth of wealth.

Following an investigation, Md Jahangir Alam filed the charge sheet on 26 November 2020. 

On 6 October 2019, the Rapid Action Battalion arrested Samrat from Cumilla over his alleged ties with the illegal gambling racket.

The RAB later conducted a raid at Samrat's office in Kakrail's Bhuiyan Trade Centre and recovered a foreign pistol, yaba tablets, bottles of foreign liquor and two kangaroo hides.

A mobile court handed Samrat a six-month prison sentence for possession of the kangaroo skins under the Wild Animal Protection Act and he was later sent to the Dhaka Central Jail in Keraniganj.

Later, two more cases were filed against him under the Narcotics Control Act and Arms Act with the Ramna Police Station.