HC wants to know steps taken to bring PK Halder back to country

The High Court has directed the authorities concerned to inform it within 10 days about the steps taken to arrest ILFSL Director Prashanta Kumar Halder and bring him back to country.

The court asked the home and foreign secretaries, chairman of Anti-Corruption Commission and others concerned to notify it of their steps in writing.

Taking the media report into cognizance on Thursday, a virtual High Court bench of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice Ahmed Sohel came up with the order and rule on a suo moto move.

Is it a 'lawless country' that the accused will live abroad as a fugitive with the allegation of siphoning off around Tk3,500 crore? the court asked.

It further said Prashanta Kumar Halder (PK Halder) should be brought back from abroad and made to find himself in the dock.

Earlier, the director of International Leasing and Financial Services Limited (ILFSL) was scheduled to return to Bangladesh on 25 October, but did not do so as the High Court ordered his arrest.

ILFSL counsel Barrister Mahafuzur Rahman Milon informed the Attorney General's Office and the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on 24 October in an email that his client is not returning to country.

The High Court issued an arrest warrant on 21 October for PK Halder upon his return to the country.

At the same time, the court also directed the authorities concerned to take steps to help PK Halder pay back the money to the creditors within the purview of law.

Earlier in a hearing on 20 October, PK Halder's lawyer told the court that his client based in Canada has bought a ticket in order to return to Dhaka on an Emirates Airlines flight via Dubai on 25 October.

In the first week of September, PK Halder applied to the High Court so that he does not face any hassle upon his return to the country.

Deputy Attorney General AKM Amin Uddin Manik represented the state in the court while advocate Khurshid Alam Khan stood for the ACC.

The High Court on January 21 ordered the seizure of all assets, bank accounts and passports of 19 people, including Prashanta Kumar Halder in connection with the smuggling of nearly Tk3,500 crore following an application by some ILFSL investors.

The High Court later appointed Khondkar Ibrahim Khaled, the former governor of Bangladesh Bank, as its chairman to protect the company, but later he resigned from the post.