The High Court has issued a rule asking the government why a lower court granted bail to contractor Shahadat Hossain in a case filed for corruption at Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (RNPP) in Pabna, and why it should not be declared void.
The state was given two weeks to give an explanation.
The bench of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice Ahmed Sohel issued the rule on Sunday after hearing a revision petition filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
Advocate Kurshid Alam Khan stood for the ACC, while Barrister Shafique Ahmed and Barrister Mahbub Shafique, represented contractor Shahadat. Deputy Attorney General AKM Amin Uddin Manik represented the state.
Shahadat and 12 others were arrested on December 12, 2019, including government officials, for their alleged involvement in a scam at RNPP.
On the morning of the same day, ACC Deputy Director Md Nasir Uddin filed four cases with its integrated district office in Pabna on charges relating to embezzlement of Tk31,24,47,172.47 for the purchase of electrical equipment and furniture for an RNPP housing project.
The government launched an inquiry into the outrageous cost of apartment furnishings at the RNPP multistorey staff accomodations.
Probe committees were formed on May 19, three days after a media outlet reported on the grossly inflated vendor pricing of household goods for the government’s Green City staff housing project at the RNPP in Pabna’s Ishurdi upazila.
A Bangla daily news outlet reported that a single pillow was bought for Tk5,957, and moving it to the apartment cost Tk760. The report led to public outrage and intense criticism, especially on social media.
An electric stove reportedly cost a staggering Tk7,747, while those assigned to moving it upstairs from the ground floor were paid Tk6,650.
An electric kettle was purchased at Tk5,313, with its moving cost being Tk2,945, and an electric iron bought for Tk4,154 was moved upstairs at a cost of also Tk2,945.