High Court: 15 graft cases against Mirza Abbas, others to continue

The High Court on Thursday dismissed 15 revision petitions on as many corruption cases filed against former housing and public works minister and BNP leader Mirza Abbas, and others, on charges of selling 18 abandoned government houses in a fake auction. The High Court bench of Justice Obaidul Hassan and Justice Krishna Debnath rejected the revision petitions, which were filed by the accused in 2017 to challenge the proceedings of the cases. The fresh order cleared the way for the lower court to continue trial proceedings of the 15 corruption cases. Anti-Corruption Commission lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan said the High Court had earlier stayed the trial proceedings of the cases when the revision petitions were filed. He added that the ACC filed a First Information Report (FIR) with Motijheel police station against 12 people, including Mirza Abbas and a number of high officials of Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) and the Power Development Board (PWD), on March 29, 2007. The accused colluded with each other to sell 18 abandoned government houses in a fake auction, at prices much lower than the market price, according to the FIR. In 2007, Dhaka Special Judge’s Court 3 framed charges against 21 people, including Mirza Abbas, in the 15 cases.