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BNP Standing Committee Member Mirza Abbas has been acquitted in a case over concealing assets and income outside of reported sources.
Dhaka Special Judge’s Court-6 Judge Masud Parvez delivered the verdict in the case on Thursday.
Lawyers Aminul Islam and Mohiuddin Chowdhury represented the defence while Anti-Corruption Commission lawyer Mahmud Hossain Jahangir represented the prosecution.
Abbas arrived in court at 12:30pm. He was accompanied by his wife Mirza Afroza Abbas. At 1:17pm, the judge came to the court.
The judge began reading the verdict in the presence of Abbas. The judge acquitted him as the charges against him were not proven. BNP leader Abbas wept after hearing the verdict.
On Aug 16, 2007, ACC Deputy Director Md Shafiul Alam filed the case against Abbas at Dhaka’s Ramna Police Station, accusing him of owning Tk 75.43 million in assets ‘inconsistent’ with his income and concealing information on another Tk 5.72 million in assets.
After the investigation, ACC Deputy Director Md Khairul Huda filed the charge sheet in the court on May 24, 2008.
There, Abbas was accused of acquiring illegal wealth of Tk 42.30 million and concealing information on Tk 2.2 million in assets.
On Jun 16, 2008, a court indicted him.
Abbas said in his testimony that his family had gone from being agricultural professionals to becoming a business family in the past generation. He and his family owned land from the Pirjungi shrine in Motijheel to the flyover near Rajarbagh.
Claiming he came from a ‘rich family’, Abbas said he did not have to acquire wealth by crooked means. Shahidagh was named after his uncle Shahid, the famous Majed Sardar of Dhaka was a close relative of the family, and his uncle was a BD member and president of a Union Parishad during the Pakistan era.
Abbas said he followed his uncle into politics.
According to Abbas, he inherited the entire area from Khilgaon Railgate to Rajarbagh in Dhaka from his family. The road constructed from Shajahanpur to Rajarbagh Junction follows the area they owned.
On Aug 22 of last year, the court fixed Aug 29 as the date for the verdict after hearing arguments from both sides. After several delays, the verdict was announced on Thursday.