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BNP Standing Committee member and Prime Minister’s Political Adviser, with ministerial rank, Mirza Abbas has been acquitted in 15 corruption cases filed over the alleged irregular sale of 18 government houses without tenders.
Dhaka Special Judge Court-3 Judge Mohammad Kamrul Hasan Khan delivered the verdict on Thursday.
The detailed verdict and the court’s observations were not immediately available.
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed the 15 cases against 21 people on March 29, 2007, alleging that the government had suffered a loss of Tk 127.64 crore through irregularities and corruption in the sale of the properties.
Abbas was named as an accused in all 15 cases, along with 11 others. Former finance minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury and businessman Ahmed Akbar Sobhan were accused in two cases each, while several others were named in individual cases. All of them were also acquitted on Thursday.
According to the case documents, the properties included 18 abandoned houses in Gulshan, Dhanmondi and Shantinagar in Dhaka. The ACC alleged that the properties were sold through manipulated tender processes to favoured individuals, causing financial losses to the government.
The prosecution further alleged that Abbas, who was then housing and public works minister, abused his authority and exerted undue influence to approve the sale of the properties through lower bids arranged by Rajuk, despite higher bids submitted by executive engineers of the Public Works Department.
The ACC alleged that the accused had committed offences under Section 409 and Section 109 of the Penal Code and Section 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947.
After completing its investigation, the ACC submitted charge sheets, and the court framed charges against the accused on September 25, 2007.
During the trial, the court recorded testimony from 23 of the 24 prosecution witnesses.