Court defers verdict in SK Sinha graft case again


FE Team | Published: October 21, 2021 11:50:22 | Updated: October 21, 2021 17:06:45


Court defers verdict in SK Sinha graft case again

Judge Sheikh Nazmul Alam of the Special Judge's Court-4 was scheduled to deliver the verdict on the corruption case on Thursday. But, instead, the judge deferred the decision to Nov 9.

“The verdict is not ready yet,” said Public Prosecutor Mir Ahmed Ali Salam. “So the judge has set a new date.”

Lawyer Shahinur Islam, one of the lawyers in the defence team, said that bail would be extended for the six defendants who had secured it. 

The verdict in the case was initially scheduled for Oct 5, but was delayed due to the judge’s leave at the time, reports bdnews24.com. 

The acting judge of the court at the time then set Oct 21 for the verdict.

Alam set Oct 5 for delivering the judgement after closing arguments in the case on Sep 14.

ACC Director Syed Iqbal Hossain initiated the case against the 11 suspects in 2019.

The other accused are – KM Shamim, former managing director of Farmers Bank, renamed Padma Bank, its former senior executive vice president Gazi Salauddin, first vice president Swapon Kumar Ray, senior vice president Md Ziauddin Ahmed, first vice president Shafiuddin Askary, vice president Md Lutful Haque, Tangail residents Md Shahjahan, Niranjan Chandra Saha, Ranajit Chandra Saha and his wife Shanti Ray.

In October 2018, the ACC said it had found 'evidence' of fraud involving transactions of Tk 40 million borrowed by two so-called businessmen, Shahjahan and Niranjan, from Farmers Bank.

The national antigraft agency later launched an investigation into allegations that the fund was deposited in Sinha’s bank account, credited as the proceeds of the sale of his house.

Sinha came under fire from the ruling Awami League over his decision to scrap the 16th amendment to the constitution and left the country on leave in October 2017.

Later, he became the first chief justice of the country to quit when he submitted his resignation from overseas, 81 days before the end of his term.

After his resignation, the Supreme Court said in a rare statement that Sinha had been facing 11 specific charges, including corruption, money laundering, financial irregularities and moral blunder.

The government has appealed for a review of the verdict scrapping the 16th constitutional amendment, which allows the MPs to remove any top judge on grounds of incompetency or misconduct.

THE ACC CASE

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