The High Court on Thursday sought explanation from the chairman of the Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) over an allegation against Poton Traders, a contracting firm, of embezzling 72,000 tonnes of imported chemical fertiliser for which the government lost Tk 5.82 billion.
The chairman of the BCIC has been asked to comply with the order by January 20 this year.
The court also asked the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to conduct an enquiry into the reported allegation and to submit a report to the HC in 60 days.
The HC bench of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice Khizir Hayat passed the order on a Suo Muto (voluntary) move following a news report published on Bangla daily Prothom Alo on this issue.
Deputy Attorney General AKM Amin Uddin Manik who represented the state during the court proceedings confirmed the news.
According to the published report, Poton Traders have misappropriated 72,000 tonnes of government's imported chemical fertilizer without carrying those to warehouses after those were released from the port.
Former lawmaker Kamrul Ashraf Khan (Poton), who is the president of Bangladesh Fertilizer Association (BFA), is the owner of Poton Traders, the report said.
“Embezzlement of the fertiliser by the Poton Traders has come to the light after investigations conducted by the Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC), a government body under the Ministry of Industries.
The fertilisers were released between November 2021 and May 15, 2022. BCIC has not taken any legal action even after seven months of not delivering of the fertilisers. BCIC sent a letter to the Ministry of Industries last December 20 asking for instructions on taking legal action,” also read the report.
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