The High Court on Thursday granted anticipatory bail to seven scientific officers for eight weeks in a corruption case on the condition that they will have to need court permission if they want to go abroad.
The officers are--- Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR)’s Chief Scientific Officer Dr Swapan Kumar Ray, Principal Scientific Officers Dr Shirin Jahan and Dr Muhammad Shahriar Bashar, and Scientific Officer Dipa Islam.
The list also included the names of Dr Mala Khan, Chief Scientific Officer and Director General (Additional Charge) at the Designated Reference Institute for Chemical Measurements (DRICM), Mohammad Nazim Zaman, Chief Scientific Officer at Institute of Mining, Mineralogy and Metallurgy, BCSIR, Joypurhat, and Dr Md Tushar Uddin, Chief Scientific Officer at Leather Research Institute, Savar.
The High Court bench of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice A K M Zahirul Huq passed the order after hearing a bail petition filed in this regard.
Barrister Ruhul Quddus Kazal appeared in the court on behalf of the officers, while deputy attorney general AKM Amin Uddin Manik represented the state and lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan appeared for the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
The Anti-Corruption Commission on November 9 in 2020 filed the case in its Dhaka district integrated office against 35 government officials of different departments including these seven scientific officers on charge of embezzling 261.49 million of an insurance premium.