“It's up to the people who were accused of corruption by the World Bank whether they would like to sue the global creditor,” Anisul said while exchanging views with the Law Reporters’ Forum at Dhaka Reporters Unity on Tuesday.
Echoing Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the law minister alleged that Grameen Bank founder Dr Muhammad Yunus had been involved in the WB’s suspending its pledged fund for the mega project.
On February 11, a court in Canada acquitted three executives on charges that SNC-Lavalin Group Inc staff had planned to bribe Bangladesh officials in a bid to win a $50m contract to supervise construction of the Padma Bridge.
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The World Bank, Jica, Asian Development Bank and the Islamic Development Bank were the initial investors of the mega project. The WB had pledged $1.2b of the project cost.
The bridge’s work stalled after the WB suspended the funds and raised corruption allegations in October 2011. The other lenders followed suit. It gave two reports to Bangladesh government seeking action against the suspects.
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On December 17, 2012, the ACC filed the case of “conspiracy for corruption in the Padma Bridge project” against seven people including former bridges division secretary Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan. The ACC kept the names of former communications minister Syed Abul Hossain and former state minister Abul Hasan Chowdhury as suspects.
The main construction of the bridge began in December last year with local funds. The government has put highest priority on implementing the project.