Case against housing minister to continue: SC
The Supreme Court yesterday overturned a High Court verdict that had acquitted Housing and Public Works Minister Engineer Mosharraf Hossain in a graft case filed by Anti-Corruption Commission in 2007. A four-member bench of the Appellate Division, headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha, passed the order after hearing a petition filed by the ACC. There is no legal bar for the ACC to resume investigation into the corruption case against the housing and public works minister following the apex court verdict, Khurshed Alam Khan, counsel for the ACC, told reporters after the verdict. In 2007, the ACC filed the graft case against Mosharraf with the Double Mooring Police Station in Chittagong for alleged irregularities in the leasing of government land in Chittagong city. Charges were also levelled against former Awami League MP from Chittagongs Fatikchharhi, Rafiqul Anwar, and his brother Fakhrul Anwar, director of Hotel Golden Inn Ltd. According to the case details, the minister had recommended the allotment of a plot, valued at Tk 16.92 million, for the construction of Hotel Golden Inn. Subsequently, the land was given to the Sanmar Hotel Ltd, flouting the lease conditions for an additional Tk 29.27 million over the amount stated in the documents, said the ACC. In 2008, the High Court issued a rule as Mosharraf filed a petition for discharging him from the charge. After a final hearing on the rule, the HC on November 20, 2012 quashed the proceedings of the case against Mosharraf. Later, the ACC filed a leave to appeal against the verdict. After hearing on the plea, the apex court yesterday annulled the HC order.
