Staff Reporter :
The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has fixed December 12 to deliver its verdict on an appeal filed against a High Court verdict that sentenced Md Sohel Rana, former Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) of Cumilla, to one month’s imprisonment on charge of contempt of court.
A five-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Obaidul Hassan fixed the date after concluding hearing on the appeal.
On October 12, the HC sentenced Sohel Rana, former Chief Judicial Magistrate of Cumilla and now attached to the Law Ministry as an Additional District and Sessions Judge, to one month’s jail and fined him Tk 5,000 for ignoring its stay order on the trial of a criminal case and using “unaccepted” words in his explanation.
Sohel Rana on December 5 submitted an application, offering “unconditional” apology to the apex court for his “inadvertent” acts.
He submitted the application through his lawyers Prabir Neogi, Shah Monjurul Hoque and Muhammad Rafiul Islam.
The lawyers appealed to the court to accept the apology, pardon Sohel and exonerate him from the contempt of court proceedings and to scrap the HC verdict on him and to give him a chance to become a “good judicial officer”.
Sohel Rana was present before the Appellate Division during the hearing. On October 12, the HC convicted Sohel and also ordered him to surrender before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court of Dhaka in seven days.
Later in that day, the HC, however, granted him bail for 30 days. The same day, the SC chamber judge stayed the HC verdict on Sohel till November 20. On November 20, the Appellate Division extended its chamber judge’s order till further order.
Sohel Rana filed an explanation regarding non-compliance of an order passed by the High Court bench of Justice Md Badruzzaman and Justice S M Masud Hossain Dolon in a case.
Then the High Court issued a contempt of court rule as it couldn’t satisfy with the explanation placed by Sohel Rana. After hearing the ruling, the High Court delivered the verdict on Thursday.
The High Court on November 4 in 2018 stayed the proceedings of a lower court case and issued a rule regarding the legality of the case.
The stay was issued for four months primarily and it was extended till dispose of the rule, the High Court orders said.
However, the then Chief Judicial Magistrate of Cumilla Sohel Rana framed charged in the case on April 10 this year, defying the HC order.
Later a petition was filed with the High Court seeking explanation from Sohel Rana over non-compliance of the HC order.
