“The Commission should have at least managed bail for Jaha Alam when it came to know that he’s innocent. But your lawyers didn’t do it. Why did your prosecution not manage bail for him although he repeatedly said he’s not Abu Salek but Jaha Alam? You (ACC) must take the responsibility for it,” it said.
The bench of Justice FRM Nazmul Ahasan and Justice KM Kamrul Kader came up with the observations when the ACC lawyer submitted documents of the cases in the form of affidavits.
The court also sought more detailed documents of 33 cases filed against Jaha Alam along with bank statements as affidavits within April 10.
Jaha Alam served three years in jail in place of the real accused in the corruption cases. He was freed from jail on February 4 last after the High Court acquitted him in 26 of the cases where charge-sheets were filed.
On Tuesday, the ACC told the court that it is not responsible for the sufferings of Jaha Alam as the cases against him were filed based on an investigation report and supporting documents provided by the Bangladesh Bank and Sonali Bank.
Jaha Alam, a jute mill worker, had languished in jail since February 2016 in 33 corruption cases in place of the real accused. He was arrested in cases filed by the ACC for misappropriating huge Sonali Bank money while the real accused, Abu Salek, is roaming around free.
Jaha Alam was released from Kashimpur Central Jail-2 in Gazipur on February 4 following a suo moto order of High Court.
The HC had passed the suo moto order following a newspaper report headlined 'Wrong accused in jail in 33 cases: Sir I'm Jaha Alam, not Salek' while the HC also asked the ACC to submit the case documents in the form of affidavits.
The report said Jaha Alam had been serving in jail in place of real accused Abu Salek in 33 cases of embezzling Tk 18 crore from Sonali Bank.