Staff Reporter :
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has finally exempted 27 people, including Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, from three Bangabandhu Novo Theatre graft cases.
Earlier, ACC Chairman M Bodiuzzaman had said that all the accused in the cases were exempted on January 22. He also said that the final hearing of the cases would be held on February 5 at the judge’s court of Dhaka.
“During the investigation, no evidence was found against the accused, including the PM,” the ACC chairman said, adding: “The cases were dismissed and
the accused were acquitted through “Final Report True (FRT).”
When Sheikh Hasina was in the seat of the opposition leader, these graft cases were filed during the then BNP-Jaamat coalition government in the year 2002. For a long time covering a time span of 13 years, this much spoken about cases were kept under the undisputed division of ACC cases.
On Tuesday, a senior ACC official said that these corruption cases were given by the now defunct Bureau of Anti-Corruption in 2002 out of political interest of the then ruling government. All the evidences that were given to establish these cases were later found out to be false. That is why the commission has sent the final report to court to establish the truth behind all these false cases.
ACC sources have revealed that on March 27, 2002, BNP-Jaamat coalition government filed the three cases against Sheikh Hasina and other members of her party with Tejgaon Thana.
ACC Deputy Director Manjur Morshed, the investigation officer of the graft case, submitted the report to court last week. The charges against the accused were described as groundless in the report, a senior official of the commission, wishing anonymity, have said. ACC then gave permission to release the convicts after 13 years time period.
Hasina was made the prime accused in the three cases with Tejgaon Thana on March 27, 2002, by the then BAC Inspector Mohammad Ibrahim Ali and officer Khan Md. Mizanul Islam.
Inspector Ibrahim brought out one complaint of corruption case while Mizanul brought out two other complaints of corruption cases against the convicts.
Sheikh Hasina and a few of her cabinet colleagues in the AL-led government of 1996-2001 were charged for corruption, and for irregularities in handling the project to set up the Bangabandhu Novo Theatre, by allegedly approving an increase in project cost for the construction of the Novo Theatre without the approval of a majority of members on the executive committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) and giving illegal benefits to the construction firm of the Novo Theatre, which incurred losses of Tk 52 crore to the state exchequer.
The project was established by the Ministry of Science and Information Communication Technology with an expenditure of over Tk 123 crore, provided entirely from state coffers.
The cases were shifted to the ACC from the BAC on August 24, 2005.
On March 4, 2010, the High Court quashed all proceedings against then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in three corruption cases regarding the Novo Theatre graft cases and also declared the filing and proceedings of the cases illegal.
Among these accused, former finance minister Shah AMS Kibria and education minister AHK Sadeque have since passed away, and among the remainder, Tofail Ahmed, Motia Chowdhury, and Dr Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir were cleared from the court, accrding to ACC officials.
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has finally exempted 27 people, including Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, from three Bangabandhu Novo Theatre graft cases.
Earlier, ACC Chairman M Bodiuzzaman had said that all the accused in the cases were exempted on January 22. He also said that the final hearing of the cases would be held on February 5 at the judge’s court of Dhaka.
“During the investigation, no evidence was found against the accused, including the PM,” the ACC chairman said, adding: “The cases were dismissed and
the accused were acquitted through “Final Report True (FRT).”
When Sheikh Hasina was in the seat of the opposition leader, these graft cases were filed during the then BNP-Jaamat coalition government in the year 2002. For a long time covering a time span of 13 years, this much spoken about cases were kept under the undisputed division of ACC cases.
On Tuesday, a senior ACC official said that these corruption cases were given by the now defunct Bureau of Anti-Corruption in 2002 out of political interest of the then ruling government. All the evidences that were given to establish these cases were later found out to be false. That is why the commission has sent the final report to court to establish the truth behind all these false cases.
ACC sources have revealed that on March 27, 2002, BNP-Jaamat coalition government filed the three cases against Sheikh Hasina and other members of her party with Tejgaon Thana.
ACC Deputy Director Manjur Morshed, the investigation officer of the graft case, submitted the report to court last week. The charges against the accused were described as groundless in the report, a senior official of the commission, wishing anonymity, have said. ACC then gave permission to release the convicts after 13 years time period.
Hasina was made the prime accused in the three cases with Tejgaon Thana on March 27, 2002, by the then BAC Inspector Mohammad Ibrahim Ali and officer Khan Md. Mizanul Islam.
Inspector Ibrahim brought out one complaint of corruption case while Mizanul brought out two other complaints of corruption cases against the convicts.
Sheikh Hasina and a few of her cabinet colleagues in the AL-led government of 1996-2001 were charged for corruption, and for irregularities in handling the project to set up the Bangabandhu Novo Theatre, by allegedly approving an increase in project cost for the construction of the Novo Theatre without the approval of a majority of members on the executive committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) and giving illegal benefits to the construction firm of the Novo Theatre, which incurred losses of Tk 52 crore to the state exchequer.
The project was established by the Ministry of Science and Information Communication Technology with an expenditure of over Tk 123 crore, provided entirely from state coffers.
The cases were shifted to the ACC from the BAC on August 24, 2005.
On March 4, 2010, the High Court quashed all proceedings against then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in three corruption cases regarding the Novo Theatre graft cases and also declared the filing and proceedings of the cases illegal.
Among these accused, former finance minister Shah AMS Kibria and education minister AHK Sadeque have since passed away, and among the remainder, Tofail Ahmed, Motia Chowdhury, and Dr Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir were cleared from the court, accrding to ACC officials.
