The Appellate Division of Supreme Court (SC) has accepted a plea of Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to drop a graft case filed against Awami League Religious Affairs Secretary Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah. ACC filed the case against him in 2008 during the last caretaker government as he concealed wealth information worth Tk 42.2 lakh in his statement submitted to the Commission.At this, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah moved the High Court and filed a petition seeking cancellation of the case filed against him.The High Court stayed the proceedings of the case and issued a show cause notice on ACC to explain as to why the case should not be declared cancelled. After hearing arguments, a bench of HC comprising Justice Md Shamsul Huda and Justice Abu Bakar Siddiqui delivered the verdict on August 18 in 2010, nullifying the case.The ACC later filed an appeal with Supreme Court against High Court’s judgment in 2011.The appeal came up in the court’s Cause List several times, the latest inclusion was on Monday (July 21). The case, however, was marked ‘not today’ on the Supreme Court website that day. On June 8, ACC Deputy Director (Law) Sabera Sultana Khanam sent a letter to the lawyers of ACC stating not to run the case. ACC Lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan told the media that the High Court verdict would be upheld as the anti-graft watchdog showed ‘no interest’ in operating the case.
