The High Court today granted anticipatory bail for three months to former Awami League general secretary Abdul Jalil in a tax evasion case. The HC bench of Justice Syed Muhammad Dastagir Husain and Justice Md Rais Uddin also issued a rule upon the government to explain why Jalil should not be granted regular bail in the case. The AL leader today appeared before the HC bench for bail.

Earlier on October 15, the Senior Special Judge's Court, Dhaka issued an arrest warrant against Jalil hours after the National Board of Revenue (NBR) filed a case against him in connection with dodging income tax to the tune of Tk 4 lakh. The case was filed under section 165/166 of the Income Tax Ordinance 1984. After a short hearing, the judge recorded statement of the complainant, took cognisance of charges and fixed October 26 for the next hearing.

In the case statement, the NBR mentioned that Jalil, chairman of Mercantile Bank Ltd, had evaded income tax worth Tk 4,07,485 out of an income from the bank amounting to Tk 54,60,234 for the fiscal years 2003-2008. He concealed his income of Tk 54 lakh in his tax returns submitted to the NBR.

Jalil repeatedly provided false information about his real income and expenditure to Income Tax Department and did not show his tax return, alleged the NBR. The AL leader came up against the lawsuit nine days after he was stripped of the post of chairman, parliamentary standing committee on commerce ministry on October 6. The filing of the case and issuance of the arrest warrant against Jalil was nothing but an outcome of his recent derogatory statements about the party and ninth parliamentary elections, AL leaders had observed.

In an interview with London-based Bangla TV, the former AL general secretary said the party's landslide victory in the ninth parliamentary elections came through an "understanding". Later in London, Jalil said he suffered from a trauma due to torture by the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) personnel while he was in detention during the caretaker government's tenure. He blamed his state of mind for the remarks he made in the TV interview.

-Daily Star