The High Court (HC) termed fleeing of Sikder Group top boss Ron Haque Sikder and his brother Dipu Haque Sikder from the country illegal.
‘They dared to ignore the country’s law and the court while leaving for overseas without managing bail or notifying the court, the HC said.
Ron Haque Sikder and his brother Dipu Haque Sikder went into hiding for several days and then fled to Thailand by an air ambulance of R&R Aviation on May 25.
On May 19, Exim Bank Director Lt Col (retd) Sirajul Islam filed a case with Gulshan police against Ron Haque Sikder and Dipu Haque Sikder, for allegedly torturing two top officials of the bank and firing at them over a Tk 500-crore loan.
The HC said the applicant     mentioned in the petition through the lawyer that their rivals would harass them by using and influencing the administrative mechanism, which is a sheer exhibition of distrust of the government and administration. The authorities concerned will take necessary steps against them.
The HC bench of Justice Md Ashraful Kamal made this observation in a 112-page full text of the bail rejection order.
It also observed that the Sikder brothers’ bail petition in advance from abroad as ‘unprecedented and the first in history.’ It is certainly astonishing that other courts across the globe observed the appeal with surprise. There was no scope of filing bail application staying abroad according to the law and rules.
‘Moreover, there is no scope of making submissions or arguments in courts as lawyer staying outside the boundary of Bangladesh under the law, rules, and the virtual courts’ practice given by the Supreme Court. Petitioner lawyers conducting cases from outside Bangladesh was `illegal and unethical’.
In the full order the court also rebuked lawyers Abdul Baset Majumdar and Ajmalul Hossain QC and Supreme Court Bar Association President AM Amin Uddin for representing the Sikder brothers in the court.
Meanwhile, on Sunday the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court (SC) adjourned the hearing for two weeks on Sikder Group Managing Director Ron Haque Sikder and his brother Dipu Haque Sikder’s appeal against the HC bail rejection order.
On July 19, they filed an anticipatory bail petition with the HC from Bangkok in a case filed on charges of abducting, torturing and threatening to shoot two top officials of Exim Bank over loan permission.
The virtual HC bench of Justice M Ashraful Kamal rejected the bail petition on July 20.
Besides, the HC bench also fined the siblings for wasting court time and directed Ron and Dipu to submit 10,000 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to the Prime Minister’s relief fund for illegally applying for bail while staying abroad.