Ex-minister Tuku\\\'s acquittal scrapped

The Appellate Division has annulled the High Court verdict which acquitted ex-state minister and BNP leader Iqbal Hasan Mamhud Tuku in a case of acquiring illegal wealth and hiding information. It asked the High Court to hear Tuku’s appeal against the verdict of the trial court once again. The five-member Appellate Division bench headed by Chief Justice Md Muzammel Hossain gave the order on Monday after resolving the matter over the Anti Corruption Commission's (ACC) 'leave to appeal' plea. "The High Court had delivered the verdict without reviewing the witnesses' statement, that's why it has been asked to hear the matter again," ACC's counsel Khurshid Alam Khan told bdnews24.com. Ajmalul Hossain QC argued for the defendant. ACC deputy director Golam Shahriar Chowdhury filed a case against Tuku and his family on Mar 21, 2007 with Mohammadpur Police Station on charges of illegally acquiring Tk 49.6 million worth of assets and concealing income-related information in his wealth statement. Another ACC deputy director, Akhtar Hamid Bhuiyan, pressed charges on Jun 28 the same year, at the Metropolitan Magistrate's Court. On Nov 15, 2007, a Dhaka Court sentenced the ex-state minister for nine years imprisonment. The High Court acquitted him on Jun 15, 2011 following an appeal by Tuku.
The ACC filed a plea for 'leave to appeal' against the HC verdict on Dec 4 last year. On Monday, the Appellate Division bench headed by the Chief Justice ordered the High Court to hear the matter once again, according to bdnews24.com.