The Supreme Court dismissed a stay petition on compensating Jahalam, who was wrongly imprisoned, for three years, in a case of mistaken identity.
A four-member bench of the Appellate Division—headed by Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain—passed the order on Monday after hearing a petition filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
Advocate AM Amin Uddin and Amit Dasgupta represented Jahalam in court. Advocate Khurshid Alam Khan represented the ACC.
Advocate Amit Dasgupta said there is now no bar to continue the hearing for Jahalam's compensation with the same High Court bench now.
On 23 April, the Supreme Court Chamber Judge Md Nuruzzaman has stayed the proceedings of the Jahalam case in High Court till May 13.
The petition was filed by the ACC on the grounds that the High Court bench that was dealing with the case does not have jurisdiction to hear such suo moto rules.
The ACC lawyer said there is another bench for hearing the ACC's case in the High Court.
Jahalam was arrested in 2016 after he was mistaken for Abu Salek, who was accused in 33 cases filed by the ACC over loan fraud and the embezzlement of nearly Tk 185 million from Sonali Bank.
He was released on Feb 4 this year, a day after it was brought to the High Court’s attention that he was serving time instead of Salek.
On January 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.