British MP Tulip Siddiq faces graft charges for accepting Gulshan flat as ‘bribe’

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) is preparing to initiate a graft case against Tulip Siddiq, a former junior minister in the UK and niece of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, over allegations of unlawfully receiving a flat from Eastern Housing Limited in Dhaka’s Gulshan area.

ACC Director General Akhtar Hossain said on Tuesday that the case will be filed with the commission’s Dhaka Integrated District Office.

Assistant Director Monirul Islam is expected to submit the case, which is currently being processed, reports bdnews24.com.

Alongside Tulip, the case will also name two former RAJUK assistant legal advisors, Shah Md Khosruzzaman and Sardar Mosharraf Hossain, as co-accused.

The accused colluded in a “criminal conspiracy, corruption, misconduct and abuse of power” to unlawfully occupy an Eastern Housing Ltd flat in Gulshan without paying any money, according to the ACC. The flat was later registered in Tulip’s name.

The anti-graft watchdog intends to bring charges against them under sections 120(B), 409, 161-165(A), 109 of the Penal Code and section 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947.

The ACC said in 1963, the then chief justice Imam Hossain Choudhury was allotted a plot measuring over 1 bigha in Gulshan.

Under the government’s 99-year lease agreement, any transfer or sub-sale of the plot was prohibited.

In 1973, however, Imam transferred the plot to Md Mojibur Rahman Bhuiyan by public order. It was later subdivided and sold, with Jahurul Islam, the founding chairman of Eastern Housing, overseeing construction on the site.

The death of Jahurul later sparked a dispute among his children, prompting legal steps.

Amid the litigation, while the transfer was prohibited, RAJUK’s legal advisors greenlit the transfer of the flat to Eastern Housing. The company, however, was neither the leaseholder nor the legal representative, which rendered the transfer illegal.

The ACC alleges that Tulip acquired the flat “at a nominal price or completely free of cost”, and it was evident in the records contained in Eastern Housing letters, RAJUK documents and holding tax assessments.

The commission said the handover violated the lease contract, administrative process and RAJUK’s rules.

On Mar 10, the ACC approved a chargesheet alleging Hasina, her sister Sheikh Rehana’s family members, including her daughter Tulip, former state minister Sharif Ahmed, prime minister’s former private secretary Mohammad Salahuddin and 14 officials of the Ministry of Housing and Public Works. The court has since issued arrest warrants against the accused.