Court halts verdict against Ershad

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A Dhaka court Tuesday halted the long-pending verdict on a gold smuggling case against Jatiya Party Chairman HM Ershad, reports bdnews24.com.
The suspension came after First Additional Sessions Judge Md Abul Basar, who has recently been assigned to handle the case after transfer of his predecessor, decided to hear the arguments of the opposing counsels afresh.
The judge wants to hear the arguments to get a clear picture of the previous legal proceedings to issue a "fair judgment".
Tuesday's pause was for the sixth time in passing the verdict, and the court fixed July 15 to hear the arguments.
Ershad was in the dock when the judge made the order.
On April 16 this year, previous judge SM Mojibur Rahman set June 12 to deliver the verdict. But he was posted outside Dhaka in May.
Assistant Public Prosecutor (APP) Md Abdul Hannan told the judge that it might be appropriate if he heard the proceedings afresh since he was not in court during the prolonged legal battle.
The judge took the prosecutor's argument into account and set the new date for hearing only the counsels' arguments.
On July 17, 1990, a case was filed with the Cantonment police station involving an incident of seizing about 33.5 kg gold worth Tk 25 million at Zia International Airport.
Police submitted the charge sheet in the case on August 30, 1990.
In a supplementary charge sheet submitted on August 31, 1991, the police said Ershad was involved in the smuggling effort.