Staff Correspondent

The hearing of Prashant Kumar (PK) Halder, a prisoner in India, has been postponed again.

The next hearing of the Haldars has been fixed on March 15 as PK Halder's lawyer Milan Mukherjee was absent, Judge Prasanna Mukherjee of the CBI-1 Chamber said.

On Wednesday (February 28), 6 accused including PK were produced in Kolkata's Bankshall Court at a fixed time. The judge and ED counsel were also present but after waiting for a long time, Milan Mukherjee could not appear in the court. Later, Milan's assistant counsel Biswajit Manna requested the judge for a later date. After the hearing, the judge fixed March 15 as the next date of hearing.

Although ED's lawyer Arijit Chakraborty said , the bigger issue than the absence of the accused's lawyer is that the speed of the case depends on the copy of the judgment in Bangladesh. The case will continue to be delayed until it comes to India's precedent.

He said that the case has been ordered in Bangladesh. But, the judgment was not formally decided (decree copy). Because of this, there is a delay in Calcutta in taking forward the formal judicial process of Peak. Basically, the accused is convicted on the copy of the decree. Without that document, the accused cannot be sentenced. That decree was not copied in Bangladesh. And because of that the copy of the copy did not reach India. About which doubts have been created.

But PK was arrested by Indian investigators. The Haldars are in jail custody in India. Why do you have to rely on the judgment of Bangladesh? In reply, Arijit said, ED had arrested six people against them under 'Prevention of Money Laundering Act-2002' i.e. Illegal Money Laundering and Prevention of Corruption Act. And it was proved in the court that the money was illegally brought from Bangladesh. Besides, PK is a Bangladeshi citizen, also proved in court and ordered to be sentenced in Bangladesh. So that copy is very important to us. On which ground Bangladesh is announcing the sentence. It is important to us.

Biswajit Manna, Haldar's lawyer, agreed on this. He said, we are also depending a lot on this copy.

As a result, the speed of the case in India is very much dependent on the copy of the judgment in Bangladesh. However, according to ED sources, the case filed against Haldars in India carries a maximum sentence of seven years. In that case, PKs spent two years in jail custody. Five years left. They can be pushed back to Bangladesh only after that period. Because it is proven that they are Bangladeshis.

On May 14, 2022, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) of India arrested the Haldars from Vedic Village in North 24 Parganas of West Bengal. Since then, the Haldars have been imprisoned there. The ED arrested six people under the Money Laundering and Prevention of Corruption Act against them. Currently, PK Halder and 5 accomplices are lodged in the Presidency Jail in Kolkata and female accomplice Amina Sultana is in the Alipore Correctional Facility in Kolkata.