After a 40-three hundred and sixty five days like minded fight, Harendranath Chandra, an elderly man from Kushtia, has eventually secured justice. It has been conclusively proved that Sonali Bank, his feeble employer, had filed a counterfeit case in opposition to him four decades within the past.
Whereas Harendranath Chandra on the origin secured a favourable verdict within the High Courtroom, the direct-owned bank authorities moved an allure in opposition to it. The Appellate Division the day earlier than as of late upheld the High Courtroom decision, bringing the extended like minded dispute to an cease.
The Appellate Division moreover ordered that the elderly defendant be compensated with Tk20 lakh for the harassment and like minded costs attributable to the counterfeit allegations. Sonali Bank has been directed to pay the amount within three months and post a compliance file to the court docket.
On Monday, a three-think bench led by senior Appellate Division Resolve on Md Ashfaqul Islam delivered the verdict. Barrister Omar Faruk represented Harendranath Chandra in court docket.
Legal professionals described the ruling as historic, noting that there are very few precedents of Supreme Courtroom verdicts awarding compensation to victims of counterfeit situations from the plaintiffs. They accept as true with such rulings will a superb deal lower the filing of baseless situations.
Per case documents, Harendranath Chandra, a resident of Helalpur village in Khoksa, Kushtia, spent 40 years – half of his lifestyles – battling the case in court docket.
Four decades within the past, he and eight others were accused of embezzling Tk16 lakh from the bank. Despite being acquitted, the Sonali Bank authorities appealed, prolonging the case.
After ending his BA, Harendranath Chandra joined Sonali Bank in Dhaka as a cashier-cum-clerk in December 1979 and became once promoted to senior cashier-cum-clerk after three years, later transferring to the Jatrabari branch.
In 1985, a remittance of Tk16.16 lakh became once transferred from the branch to the native direct of industrial, with receipt confirmed in writing. However, a subsequent inner investigation claimed the funds were lacking.
Later that three hundred and sixty five days, the bank filed a departmental case in opposition to Harendranath and eight others for embezzlement, suspending them in March 1986.
In February 1986, a court docket in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Dhaka, sentenced Harendranath to seven years in penal complex in a single other case for failing to deposit a buyer’s cash. Several others were moreover sentenced to assorted phrases of imprisonment. He became once released from penal complex in 1990.
Earlier, in July 1985, the then Anti-Corruption Bureau filed a prison case in opposition to Harendranath and eight others with the Dhaka Special Courtroom on costs of embezzlement. However, in November 1986, your entire accused, including Harendranath, were acquitted.
After shedding the case, the bank authorities secretly filed one other case in opposition to Harendranath and the others within the Money Mortgage Courtroom in 1988. In a unilateral verdict, the court docket found them responsible and ordered them to repay the entire quantity.
Harendranath filed an allure (omit case) in inequity verdict, and in August 1992, the Joint District Resolve on’s Courtroom of Dhaka current the allure and quashed the trial court docket’s listing.
Sonali Bank later appealed this verdict with the High Courtroom in 2019, however the High Courtroom disregarded the allure in August 2022. The bank then filed a lumber away to allure in opposition to the High Courtroom’s verdict on 5 February final three hundred and sixty five days.
