Graft convicts having 2-year jail can’t contest polls with pending appeals: HC

The High Court has said an individual sentenced to two years in a corruption case is ineligible to participate in elections, even if their bail or sentence is temporarily suspended during an appeal, unless the sentence is officially annulled by a court.

In its full text of a verdict, the High Court says a pending appeal does not mean that the convicted person is innocent. The person is innocent only if an appropriate court cancels their punishment.

Referring to the relevant article of the constitution, the court says an accused sentenced to more than two years in a corruption case will be constitutionally ineligible for the national parliamentary elections.

The 44-page verdict was published on the Supreme Court website on Sunday. A High Court bench passed the short verdict on 27 November 2018.

The High Court made the observation after rejecting the plea of stay petition of sentences in separate corruption cases of five BNP leaders.

Wadud Bhuiyan, Md Abdul Wahab, Md Mashiur Rahman, Dr AZM Zahid Hossain and Aman Ullah Aman filed the criminal appeal petitions against their conviction handed by the trial courts in corruption cases.

In respect of these five petitioners, the judgement says, "There is no scope to suspend the conviction of the appellant-petitioner on the ground to facilitate them to participate in the election of Parliament, as per the provision of Article 66(2)(d) of the Constitution."

Khurshid Alam Khan, representing the Anti-Corruption Commission, told reporters on Sunday that if anyone is sentenced to two years or more in a case of moral turpitude, that person is constitutionally ineligible for election.

"The court gave the judgement by interpreting Article 66(2)(d) of the Constitution," he added. 

Responding to a query, Khurshid Alam told The Business Standard that some candidates attempted to mislead the Election Commission with false claims in their affidavits regarding the suspension of their sentences when their appeals were pending.

"This ruling has eliminated that opportunity," he added.