Awami League lawmaker Haji Mohammad Selim, who went to Bangkok for treatment despite conviction in a corruption case, returned to the country abiding by the law, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said on Thursday.
“Haji Selim is a Member of Parliament, he is respectful to the country's law,” the minister told reporters at the Secretariat.
“Therefore, there is nothing to create confusion in this regard. Hopefully the matter is clear now,” he added.
On Monday, Haji Selim ,who was sentenced to 10-year imprisonment in a case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), left the country for Bangkok sparking huge criticism.
On February 10, the full text of the High Court’s verdict was published upholding his 10-year imprisonment.
The HC asked him to surrender to the trial court within 30 days of receiving the verdict.
The HC directed the trial court to cancel the bail order of the MP and issue an arrest warrant against him if he does not surrender within the given time.
ACC lawyer Khurshid Alam said, “After this verdict Haji Selim has lost the eligibility to remain an MP according to the article 66 (2) of the Constitution.”
On March 9 last year, HC bench of Justice Md Moinul Islam Chowdhury and Justice AKM Zahirul Huq passed the order after hearing a petition by the ACC.
In 2007, the ACC filed the case against Selim. On April 27, 2008, a Dhaka court jailed him for 13 years and fined Tk 20 lakh.
Selim moved the High Court against the verdict.
In 2011, the court overturned his sentence but the ACC later appealed against the lower court verdict.
Later, the Appellate Division asked the High Court to re-hear the petition.
Irregularities of Selim resurfaced after his son Irfan Selim was arrested for assaulting a navy official in 2020.
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