The High Court has granted permanent bail to contractor Asif Hossain, managing director of Mazid Sons Construction Limited in cases filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) over graft in supplying furniture and appliances for the housing project at the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant Project (RNPP) in Pabna.
The High Court bench of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice Ahmed Sohel passed the order on Wednesday.
Barrister Fida M Kamal stood for the petitioner while Deputy Attorney General AKM Amin Uddin Manik represented the state, and Advocate Khurshid Alam Khan stood for ACC.
Khurshid Alam said Asif Hossain should not be released from the jail following the High Court verdict as he is shown arrested in another corruption case filed over the same issue.
He also informed that the ACC will file an appeal against the High Court order.
On December 12, 2019, 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 the RNPP housing project.
The government launched an inquiry into the outrageous cost of apartment furnishings at the RNPP multistorey staff accommodations.
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 another 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.
