A High Court bench has expressed its interest in meeting Jahalam, who was wrongly convicted and imprisoned for three years due to a case of mistaken identity.
A bench comprised of Justices FRM Nazmul Ahsan and KM Kamrul Kader set next Wednesday for a hearing in this regard. The justices added that they want to know Jahalam’s side of story, and about the severe impact the incident left on his life.
On 6 March, the court sought more detailed documents, regarding 33 cases of loan fraud, involving Sonali Bank, along with bank statements as affidavits, by Apr 10.
Jute factory worker Jahalam was released from jail following a High Court order after three years of wrongful imprisonment on Feb 4.
Last year, several media reports brought Jahalam's innocence to the Anti-Corruption Commission’s attention, after which the commission launched an investigated into the matter.
The commission later found Jahalam's claims of innocence to be true.
On Jan 28, in a suo moto ruling, the High Court summoned: a representative of the commission chairman, the cases’ plaintiff and Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) investigation officer, and two other representatives from the home and law ministries; to explain why Jahalam—instead of the real accused—had been in jail for the past three years.
Supreme Court lawyer Amit Das Gupta presented Jahalam's case to the High Court bench of Justices FRM Nazmul Ahasan and Kamrul Kader on Jan 30. During the hearing, Advocate Khurshid Alam Khan, who represented the ACC, explained that they made a first information report based on Sonali Bank’s and Bangladesh Bank's information.
Jahalam was indicted in 26 cases after the Union Parishad Chairman of his upazila identified Jahalam as Salek. The commission later admitted they had made a mistake accusing Jahalam in the cases.
“The graft watchdog has already submitted an application to the lower court concerned to exonerate Jahalam from the cases,” the lawyer had told the court.
The bench also said that either the commission or the bank must compensate Jahalam for his wrongful incarceration.
After the hearing on the summons, the court passed a ruling over the legality of his imprisonment and directed the jail authorities to immediately release Jahalam.