Lawmaker Shahid Islam, who is arrested by Kuwait authorities for money laundering and human trafficking, will be stripped of his Jatiya Sangsad (JS) membership if he is convicted.
Several parliamentary affairs experts have told the FE that if a lawmaker is convicted by a foreign court, the Clause 2(d) of the Article 66 of the constitution will be applicable for him.
Clause 2 of the Article 66 narrates when and how a lawmaker will be disqualified for being the member of the parliament.
The 2(d) of the article 66 says, a person shall be disqualified for election as, or for being, a member of Parliament who 'has been, on conviction for a criminal offence involving moral turpitude, sentenced to imprisonment for a term of not less than two years, unless a period of five years has elapsed since his release;"
When asked to comment on the issue, Abdus Shahid, whip of the parliament, told the FE that the conviction by a Kuwait court would be applicable in this case.
But he pointed out that Mr Islam would have the scope of filing appeal against the court verdict and unless the legal procedure was exhausted, the matter would remain sub-judice.
"We hope the foreign ministry will inform the parliament time to time about the development regarding the case filed against Mr Islam," he said.
He said that the lawmaker was entitled to consular access in Kuwait.
However, Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen told the FE that his ministry was in close contact with the Kuwait Embassy over the incident. "This is really unfortunate," he added.
Mr. Islam was arrested a week ago due to an alleged involvement in human trafficking and money laundering.
He was taken on remand at the order of Kuwaiti Public Prosecution and the court rejected his bail plea thrice, according to the Kuwait media.
The prosecution charged him with human trafficking, money laundering, and exploiting his compatriot workers after hearing testimonies of five Bangladeshis, who confirmed that they had paid amounts of up to 3,000 dinars in exchange for coming to Kuwait, and that they were also paying annual sums for renewing their residency visas.
Among the complaints submitted against Mr Islam is that he is believed to have provided five luxury cars as bribes to government officials in Kuwait so that he could obtain contracts for the company he runs there.
Kuwaiti media have also accused him of trading visas and siphoning off money to the US for laundering.
Mr. Islam runs the Marafie Kuwaitia Group as managing director and CEO.
Many believe that money played pivotal role behind the sudden rise of Mr. Islam in political area who became MP from Lakshipur-2 constituency with independent ticket.
From the Awami League-led grand alliance, the constituency was allocated to Jatiya Party (JP) but the JP candidate simply disappeared from the election scene, allegedly after a 'profitable' negotiation with Mr Islam.
And immediately after that Mr Islam allegedly used his money machine to install his wife as a lawmaker from one of the women's reserved seats in the parliament.
In February this year, when reports regarding his involvement in human trafficking was published in Kuwait media, Mr. Islam told media outlets in his country he was not even involved in manpower export, let alone human trafficking.
According to Al Qabas newspaper, the suspect is a member of a three-man racket whose other members include a Bangladeshi MP, whose wife is also an MP from one of the seats reserved for women.
It added that the trio occupied sensitive positions in three major companies that brought over 20,000 Bangladeshi workers into the country in exchange for large sums of money believed to be in excess of 50 million dinars ($163 million).
The MP reportedly channelled the money to the US to set up a company in partnership with an American national, according to the report.
A vice-chairman of NRB Commercial Bank, Mr. Islam is also chairman of NRB Securities Exchange Company and director of Crystal Energy Limited.
mirmostafiz@yahoo.com
