HC bench officer forges order for bail in yaba case

A bench officer of the High Court Division has forged the bail order in favour of an accused of possessing 50,000 Yaba tablets.
On Tuesday, the sensational forgery by bench officer Rafiqul Islam came to the notice of Justice Md Shawkat Hossain and Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder after another accused in the same Yaba case submitted the forged bail order in their court with their bail petition.
On June 26, 2016, besides others Boktar Ahammed of Balu Khali, Ukhiya, Cox’s Bazaar, was arrested by Khilgaon police for possessing 50,000 Yaba tablets.
On Tuesday, Nurul Alam Titu, a co-accused in the case submitted the forged bail order of Boktar to claim bail for himself exposing the forgery of bench officer Rafiq.
The Yaba case is under-trial at the court of 6th additional metropolitan sessions’ judge’s court of Dhaka.
Two days after the sensational forgery by the bench officer, the prime minister ordered temporary banning of fishing in the Naf River along the Bangladesh-Myanmar borders to check Yaba smuggling into Bangladesh.
On Wednesday, the bench of Justice Shawkat Hossain and Justice Nazrul Islam directed the HC registrar to immediately put bench officer Rafiq under suspension and file a forgery case against him.
High Court Division’s additional registrar Sabbir Faiz told New Age that there would be full compliance of the order.
The unprecedented incident of forgery by the bench officer was exposed when the bail petition of Nurul Alam Titu was moved citing Boktar Ahammed’s forged bail order that completely surprised the bench as Boktar’s bail petition was neither heard nor moved before it.
As the bench immediately called Boktar’s lawyer Rafat Jahan Lubna, she was equally surprised to hear that her client was freed on bail by a vacation bench on June 19, though she did not even move his petition.
Justice Nazrul Islam, who was the presiding judge of the vacation bench was completely taken a back to see the bail order that was never given by him or his junior colleague.
Astonished over the incident Lubna told New Age that she heard from the court that her client was already free on forged bail.
Justice Nazrul Islam Talukder found out that bench officer Rafiq had put forged the initials ‘R+B’ just the way Justice Nazrul and Justice Khizir Ahmed Choudhury put their initials while granting bails.
Bench officer Rafiq was not available for comments.
The foul play of Rafiq came to light on July 19, a day before the special bench of Justice Nazrul Islam and Justice Khizir Ahmed Choudhury directed the HC registrar to hold a probe into the complaint from lawyers that he had tampered the causelist during the vacation after taking bribe.
As politically powerful elements in collusion with border guards, law enforcers and brokers are involved with Yaba smuggling they easily escape punishment even if arrested and repeat their crimes for which the dangerous drug could harm the
society.

Source: New Age