Asif Mahmud's writ challenging ACC briefing dropped

A writ petition filed by NCP spokesperson Asif Mahmud Sajib Bhuiyan challenging the legality of two press briefings by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has been dropped from the cause list of the High Court's vacation bench.

The petition was dropped from the cause list on Tuesday after a hearing began in the vacation bench of Justice Bishmadeb Chakraborty and Justice Sheikh Tahsin Ali.

Asif Mahmud's lawyer Zahirul Islam Musa said several cases were dropped from the cause list as it was the last working day of the vacation bench. However, no case was dismissed. The petition will be presented for hearing in a new bench once the regular court proceedings begin.

On Sunday, Asif Mahmud filed the writ challenging the legality of the ACC's two briefings on September 2 and 13. The application stated that the ACC held those briefings announcing it had found "preliminary evidence" of corruption and money laundering allegations against him at the very initial stage of the inquiry. This violated the ACC's 'Information Disclosure Policy 2011' and Article 31 of the Constitution, which protects citizens' dignity and reputation.

The writ further stated that at the September 2 briefing, it was said that preliminary evidence of various allegations against Asif Mahmud, including taking Tk 76 lakh, had been found. Although a concerned official later called it a "slip of the tongue", the statement was not formally withdrawn.

At the September 13 briefing, allegations were made against him of "commission trading" of hundreds of crores of taka from tenders of various recruitment and development projects and laundering nearly Tk 11,000 crore abroad.

The writ sought an order declaring these statements illegal and beyond legal authority, and directing the ACC not to hold any new press briefings while an inquiry or investigation is ongoing.