No representative of the Anti-Corruption Commission is attending the hearing of conspiracy case over appointment of consultant for the Padma Bridge project at a Canadian court today.
ACC Chairman M Bodiuzzaman Sunday told Dhaka Tribune that the designated official did not get visa from the Canadian High Commission and thus, “no representatives from Bangladesh will attend the hearing.”
The commission sources said its legal adviser Anisul Haque had earlier applied for the visa to observe the trial and participate in the hearing, but failed.
The court today will hear the case against two former officials of SNC Lavalin Ramesh Saha and Mohammad Ismail.
Earlier in May, a two-member ACC team had gone to Canada to collect information in the Padma Bridge case but returned empty-handed.
They were supposed to collect a copy of Ramesh’s much-talked-about diary that reportedly contains a list of names that received 10%-12% commission.
The ACC on December 17 last year filed a conspiracy case against seven officials, including Ramesh and Ismail, but dropped the names of former communications minister Syed Abul Hossain and former state minister for foreign affairs Abul Hasan Chowdhury.
The commission has reportedly finished the Bangladeshi part of the investigation and is waiting for the Canadian documents for wrapping up the investigation.
