The High Court has dismissed a writ petition that sought an investigation into allegations of corruption and unexplained wealth involving nearly 50 judges and judicial officials of subordinate courts across the country.
The bench of Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Debashish Roy Chowdhury issued the order on Tuesday.
Advocate Md Amimul Ehsan Zobair, the petitioner, represented himself in court, while Additional Attorney General Arshadur Rauf argued on behalf of the state.
During the hearing, the court observed that the petition was based on a media report which referred to an alleged Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) investigation.
However, the state confirmed that no such report existed, and the court remarked that filing a writ without concrete evidence was inappropriate.
The writ petition was subsequently dismissed outright.
This writ references a report published in a national daily on October 16, titled "Unbelievable Wealth of Nearly Fifty Judges and Officials: Hundreds of Crores in Their Accounts." The report has been attached to the petition.
The report claims that the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has found evidence of astonishing wealth accumulated by more than fifty officials within the judiciary. Many of these officials have allegedly acquired hundreds of crores of taka through illegal means. Some possess assets worth thousands of crores, including luxurious apartments both domestically and internationally.
Several individuals have bought houses in the Begumpura area of Canada, while others have acquired ownership of hundreds of bighas of land. Through a covert investigation, the ACC’s intelligence branch uncovered evidence of corruption involving 51 judicial officials. The ACC has also obtained information about undeclared assets held in the names of others.
ACC sources suggest that a public investigation into these officials will commence soon. It is believed that the inquiry will reveal additional undisclosed assets held in others' names. Once the necessary evidence is collected, legal action will be taken against the officials involved.
According to findings from the ACC’s investigation, over the past decade, especially after the controversial national election on January 5, 2014, and with the appointment of Anisul Huq as law minister, the judiciary has gradually become tarnished. These officials, having gained the minister’s trust, became involved in abuses of power, irregularities, corruption, fraud, and forgery.
