Bangladesh Sentences First Hindu Chief Justice To 11 Years In Jail In Graft Case

Surendra Kumar Sinha was the chief justice in 2017 when Bangladesh SC ruled that parliament could not sack judges. He left the country, alleging he had been forced to resign after the ruling.

Representative Image | Judges desk in court room - Getty Images

New Delhi: Bangladesh’s former chief justice Surendra Kumar Sinha, the first Hindu to hold the post, has been sentenced to 11 years in jail in a corruption case.

Media reports said opposition parties and supporters have called this politically motivated.

In 2017, it was Sinha, 70, who was the head of the Supreme Court when it ruled that parliament could not sack judges. He left Bangladesh the same year, alleging that he had been forced to step aside following the ruling, according to reports.

Sinha now lives in North America, where he is said to have sought asylum. His sentence by the Dhaka court was pronounced in absentia.

The reports said Sinha was found guilty of laundering approximately $471,000 in connivance with some officials of a private bank. Eight more people have been convicted in the case.

Special Judge Shaikh Nazmul Alam, who delivered Tuesday’s verdict, ordered Sinha to serve seven years' jail term for laundering money, and four years for breach of trust.

“This verdict proved that nobody in the country is above law. Wrongdoings will bring anyone in the trial,” prosecutor Khurshid Alam Khan told news agency AFP.

Many, however, accused the government of vendetta.

“It was very obvious that the government was angry with him and … was determined to just kill his reputation,” Dhaka University law professor Asif Nazrul told news agency AFP.

Sinha was the first Hindu chief justice of the Supreme Court in the Muslim-majority nation.

In his book, 'A Broken Dream: Rule of Law, Human Rights and Democracy', he wrote how he had been forced to resign and flee, and that he was threatened by a military security agency.