A Dhaka court yesterday discharged 27 accused including Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina from three corruption cases concerning Bangabandhu Novo Theatre.
Acting Metropolitan Session’s Judge Imrul Kayes passed the order after conducting hearing on a final report filed by the Anti-corruption Commission.
ACC counsel Abdus Salam submitted the report before the court seeking discharge mentioning that they had found no involvement of the accused with the graft allegations.
Recently, ACC Deputy Director Manjur Morshed submitted the final report to the Dhaka’s Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court.
Hasina was named as the prime accused in the three cases, filed by the now-defunct Anti-Corruption Bureau with Tejgaon police on March 27, 2002 when the BNP-Jamaat-led government was in power.
According to the case, Hasina and a few of her cabinet colleagues in 1996-2001 government were involved in corruption and irregularities in handling the project to set up the Bangabandhu Novo Theatre in the capital.
It says the accused approved an increase in project cost without the approval of majority members on the executive committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) and giving illegal benefits to the construction firm, which caused the state loss of Tk52 crore.
The cases were shifted to the ACC on August 24, 2005. On October 27 the same year upon Hasina’s petition, the High Court stayed the re-investigation. The court also asked the ACC and the then government to explain why the approval of investigation and filing of the charge sheet should not be declared illegal.
On March 4, 2010, the High Court quashed all the proceedings against Hasina and also declared the filing of the cases and the proceedings illegal.
