A Dhaka court has fixed September 14 for hearing arguments on defence statements in a graft case filed against former Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha and 10 others.
Judge Sheikh Nazmul Alam of Dhaka Fourth Special Judge’s Court passed the order on Monday after receiving written statements from five of the accused, who claimed innocence and demanded justice.
The case was filed for embezzling and laundering about Tk4 crore from Farmers Bank Limited (now Padma bank).
The accused who submitted statements are former chairman of the bank’s audit committee Mahbubul Haque Chisty, Vice President Lutful Haque, former managing director AKM Shamim, Senior Executive Vice President and Head of Credit Division Gazi Salahuddin and First Vice President of Credit Division Swapan Kumar Roy.
Two other accused – Shahjahan and Niranjan Chandra Saha – did not submit written statements to the court.
Also Read- Witness testimonies end in graft case against former CJ Sinha
Meer Ahamed Ali Salam, public prosecutor of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), confirmed the developments to Dhaka Tribune.
A total of 20 out of 21 prosecution witnesses testified before the court in the case.
ACC filed the case on July 10, 2019, for embezzling Tk4 crore from the then Farmers Bank and laundering the money abroad.
According to the case, Md Shahjahan and Niranjan took the money on loan from then Farmers Bank, which was later transferred to justice Sinha's Sonali Bank account, showing it was earned from selling off his house.
The accused were indicted in the case on August 13, 2020.