Ghani Khan: Sibling rivalry

Malda, March 5: Veteran Congress leader A.B.A. Ghani Khan Chowdhury has been told to appear in person before a court here regarding a property rights dispute with his brother.

The notification issued yesterday by the court of subdivisional judicial magistrate Samiran Dutta in connection with a dispute over ancestral property rights ordered the Congress MP to appear in court within three months from the date of the issue. According to sources, a case between Ghani Khan and his brother Abu Naser Khan Chowdhury over the right to the ancestral house had been pending in court since 1994.

Ghani Khan had allegedly hired goons to beat up his brother and his wife Estera and driven them out of the ancestral house in 1994. Naser and his wife had to take shelter at a tourist lodge. Following the incident, both Ghani Khan and his brother lodged complaints with the Englishbazar police station. Naser was arrested.

Naser’s advocate Tarit Ojha said: “It is curious that while the police furnished a chargesheet exempting Ghani Khan from all charges, Naser Khan was proclaimed the offender. Obviously the role of the police is not clear.” Naser had then filed a case at Malda court against the exclusion of Ghani Khan from the chargesheet. The Malda court subsequently declared Ghani Khan as one of the accused. The Congress leader appealed to Calcutta High Court against the verdict. The high court, however, upheld the lower court’s ruling. “My client felt the need to appeal to the subdivisional judicial magistrate against the police for exempting Ghani Khan from the chargesheet,” Ojha said.

Neither the MP nor his party is ready to attach much importance to the court notification. “I don’t remember what happened in 1994. I will find out what exactly is stated in the summon,” said Ghani Khan. The Congress leader’s election agent Masidur Rahman said: “Such incidents take place in many houses. Our party is not bothered about it. We will go by what the court says.”