ACC case against AL's Abdullah dropped

The Appellate Division has accepted a plea by the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) to drop a case against Awami League leader Sheikh Md Abdullah for concealing information on his wealth.

Abdullah, the ruling party’s religious affairs secretary, was accused in a case filed in 2008 during the caretaker regime.

It was the ACC, which filed an appeal against an earlier High Court verdict which ordered dropping the case. But a three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Md Muzammel Hossain rejected it on Thursday as the matter was 'not pressed' by the petitioner.

The case, accusing Abdullah of hiding information of wealth worth Tk 4.2 million, was under the purview of Dhaka’s Special Judges Court-5.

Abdullah moved the High Court and filed a petition to scrap the case.

After hearing arguments, the bench of Justices Md Shamsul Huda and Abu Bakar Siddiqui gave a verdict on Aug 18, 2010, quashing the case.

The ACC later filed an appeal against High Court’s decision in 2011.

The appeal came up in the court’s Cause List several times, the latest inclusion being for Monday (July 21), slotted as the 31st case to be heard that day. The case, however, was marked ‘not today’ on the Supreme Court website.

Meanwhile, a letter was sent to the lawyers of the case by ACC Deputy Director Sabera Sultana Khanam on Jun 8.

It said: “A lawyer was appointed against the High Court’s verdict on the criminal (misc) case filed by Mr. Sheikh Md Abdullah, following which a Criminal Petition for leave to appeal was filed.”

“The Anti-corruption Commission has decided to ‘not press’ leave to appeal in line with the decision taken on 08-06-2014. I hereby state that the ACC must be informed before any necessary steps are taken on this matter.”

Khurshid Alam Khan, an ACC lawyer in the Supreme Court, told bdnews24.com that the Supreme Court's decision means that the ACC will no longer pursue the case. The High Court’s verdict will be upheld.