HC order in Mig-29 scam against Hasina Wednesday

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The High Court (HC) will pass orders Wednesday regarding the petitions for quashing the much-talked-about Mig-29 scam against former prime minister and Awami League president Sheikh Hasina, reports UNB.
After closing the arguments made Sunday by both state and defence counsels on the petitions of Hasina and co-accused persons, the court fixed the date for deciding fate of the ex-PM.
The hearings on the petitions continued eight days since the beginning on August 08 before a division bench comprising Justice Nozrul Islam Chowdhury and Justice M Ataur Rahman Khan.
When Hasina was Prime Minister during the 1996-2001 period, eight Russian-made fighter planes of the brand were procured for Air Force.
According to the First Information Report (FIR), the government incurred a loss of Tk 7.0 billion on account of the warplane purchase.
The case, pending with the trial court, had been stayed for long following HC orders upon applications filed by the counsel for Hasina and six other accused for quashing the case involving shady deals for the purchase of the supersonic fighter jets.
Former army chief Mustafizur Rahman, ex-air force chief Jamal Uddin Ahmed, retired defence secretary Syed Yusuf Hossain, Mirza Akhtar Maruf, retired defence joint secretary Mohammad Hossain Serniabat and businessman Noor Ali are the other charge-sheeted accused in the case.
Soon after the BNP-led four-party alliance came to power, the now-defunct Bureau of Anti-Corruption filed the Mig-29 case with Tejgaon police station in December 2001.
After charge-sheet filing, they filed petitions with the HC for quashing the case and the HC issued an order of stay on the trial proceedings until the court rule was resolved. But there had been a long pause as government side ceased from pursuing the lawsuit.