Court orders Khaleda Zia’s nephew Tuhin to jail in ACC tax evasion case

In a tax evasion case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), the court has ordered Shahrin Islam Chowdhury, nephew of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, to be sent to jail.

On Tuesday, Dhaka's Special Judge Court-6 issued this order. The information was confirmed by Shahrin Islam’s lawyers, Syed Zainul Abedin and Sheikh Sakil Ahmed Ripon.

In the tax evasion case, Shahrin Islam had surrendered to the court and applied for bail. After the hearing, the court rejected his bail petition. He had been sentenced to prison and fined in this case 17 years ago.

Lawyer Syed Zainul Abedin said: "Shahrin Islam was the Member of Parliament for Nilphamari-1 constituency. Seventeen years ago, he was politically harassed and sentenced under the Income Tax Ordinance. Today he surrendered before the court and applied for bail. The court has ordered him to be sent to jail."

In 2007, the ACC filed two separate cases against him at Gulshan Police Station on charges of tax evasion and illegal wealth accumulation.

Among these, in the tax evasion case, the court in 2008 sentenced him to eight years of rigorous imprisonment in two separate counts of three years and five years.

In his bail application, Shahrin Islam mentioned that he had submitted income tax returns from the 1998-1999 assessment year to the 2006-2007 assessment year. He had included the information of all his assets there. He claimed that he did not receive fair justice from the trial court.