Ruling Awami League nominated mayoral candidate for the upcoming elections to Sylhet City Corporation (SCC) Anwaruzzaman Chowdhury and his wife have a house in London, the UK.
Anwaruzzaman also has ownership of a restaurant there. He is from Pathatula area in Sylhet sadar and has been living in the UK for long. He is the joint general secretary of the UK chapter of Awami League.
The affidavit Anwaruzzaman Chowdhury submitted at the election commission did not mention anything about his properties in the UK.
The moveable properties mentioned in the affidavit include nearly Tk 4.19 million (4,184,848) in cash, 47 bhoris of gold (of his wife), two televisions, a refrigerator, two air conditioners and furniture. Immoveable properties include three bighas of farm land, 23 decimals non-agricultural land, a building and a home/apartment.
In his sources of income, Anwaruzzaman Chowdhury showed Tk 100,000 annually from agriculture, Tk 147,542 from business and Tk 47,542 from house/apartment/shop rents.
A Prothom Alo investigation, however, reveals there is a home owned jointly by Anwaruzzaman Chowdhury and his wife Holy Begum Chowdhury at Ilford in East London’s Redbridge council. As per the information of the UK government’s land registration office, the house at Springfield Drive was bought at €295,000 on 6 August 2007. Accoding to Zoopla, a British real estate company, there are three bed rooms and two drawing rooms at the house. The current market price of the house could be €506,000-618,000, it said.
Besides the house, Anwaruzzaman Chowdhury also has ownership of restaurant, Kipling Indian Restaurant, at North Hill Road (2 North Hill) in Highgate, London.
According to the the land registration office of the UK government, Kipling Indian Restaurant Limited is the lease holder of the establishment where the restaurant is situated. The documents collected from the company house of the UK revealed that Anwaruzzaman Chowdhury and a certain Fakhrul Islam are the two directors of the company. The wealth value of the company on 31 March 2022 was €131,905.
When Prothom Alo contacted Anwaruzzaman Chowdhury to ask him about the unmentioned wealth in the affidavit on Saturday, he said, “Right now I’m busy in electioneering. Will discuss about this with you later.”
Speaking to Prothom Alo, a person close to Anwaruzzaman Chowdhury said this is true that there is a house in the name of Anwaruzzaman Chowdhury and his wife and a jointly owned restaurant in the UK. He is an honourable tax payer there. Why would he hide his legal wealth? This is not something to hide. Actually there is no law on mentioning in the affidavit about wealth abroad. That is why those were not shown. But all his tangible and intangible properties inside the country have been shown in the affidavit, the person added.
Prothom Alo also contacted election commissioner Rasheda Sultana about the issue. She said, “The Representation of the People Order (RPO) asked to show the candidate’s wealth statement. But it is not clearly mentioned whether the overseas assets also have to be mentioned or not.”
But wishing not to be named, an official of the election commission told Prothom Alo a candidate has to show all of his wealth in the affidavit whether it’s at home or abroad. If a candidate is proved that he has hidden information, his candidature could be cancelled.
The EC official also said generally the election commission does not scrutinise the information a candidate provides in the affidavit. The EC scrutinisies that if anyone files any complaint challenging those. There is also instance of cancelling candidature for this.
Speaking to Prothom Alo, Shushashoner Jonno Nagorik (SHUJAN) secretary Badiul Alam Majumder said the law mentioned about providing information of a candidate’s wealth. There is no division here.
He further said it would have been different if it was mentioned in the law that the candidate only has to show his wealth in the country. Since there is no such thing in the law, a candidate must mention about all his wealth at home and abroad. This is a rational explanation of the law, added Badiul Alam Majumder.
*The report was originally published in the print edition of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten in English by Shameem Reza