A Dhaka court has set March 16 for the hearing of indictment against former director general of Directorate General of Health Service (DGHS) Abul Kalam Azad and five others over the Regent Hospital scam.
Senior Special Judge KM Emrul Kayesh scheduled the hearing on Tuesday after accepting the charges brought by the Anti-Corruption Commission and forwarded the matter to the court of Dhaka Special Judge-6 for trial.
The five others accused of embezzling government funds are Regent Hospital Chairman Mohammed Shahed, former DGHS director (Hospitals and Clinics) Dr Aminul Hasan, Deputy Director (Hospital-1) Dr Md Younus Ali, Assistant Director (Hospital-1) Dr Md Shafiur Rahman, and Research Officer Dr Md Didarul Islam.
Azad stands accused of signing a Covid-19 treatment deal with Regent, an unlicensed hospital, in the chargesheet.
Shahed is now in jail while others accused are out on bail.
On January 23, the same court granted Azad permanent bail after his surrendered before it.
On October 7 last year, the same court granted Dr Azad to ad-interim bail until today after he surrendered before it seeking bail in the case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
In September 2020, the started the case against five people -- four DGHS officials and Shahed -- on for embezzling millions through irregularities after signing the deal.
Azad was not initially named in the case but the chargesheet added his name after the investigation. The investigator submitted the chargesheet in the case after a yearlong probe.