After hearing the arguments made by both the prosecution and the defence counsel, judge M Ashraf Hossain passed the order Monday.
The formal trial of the graft case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission against the much-talked-about businessman Mamun began on May 17 at the special makeshift court set up at the Jatiya Sangsad bhaban complex.
Mamun, according to the anti-graft watchdog, amassed wealth and property disproportionate to his legal known sources of income and is facing trial for non-submission of his wealth statement to the ACC.
On February 18, the ACC issued a notice to Mamun, along with 49 other bigwig graft suspects, to submit wealth statement within 72 hours. Neither he nor his representative, despite having been received the notice by his wife, complied with the instruction, which is an offence punishable by three years in jail or fines or by both.
While submitting argument, barrister AKM Fakhrul Islam, the defence counsel, raised the legal question about the functioning of the special makeshift judge's court and its jurisdiction to try a private person like his client under the ACC Act.
Citing the amended Criminal Law (amendment) Act of July 18, 2004, incorporating the ACC cases for trial by the special judge's court, the defence counsel told the court that according to the amendment, the government would decide the date of its enforcement by a gazette notification. "But there is no such notification existing in this regard," he contended.
Interrupting the counsel for Mamun, the court inquired about the notification and asked the ACC Public Prosecutor (PP) to show the requisite gazette notification in this regard.
ACC PP AFM Golam Fattah, dismissing the allegation of the defence counsel, claimed that the gazette notification was published in due time.
The court asked him to submit it before the delivery of judgment on Thursday in the case.
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