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The “flat corruption” case against Tulip Siddiq, the British MP and niece of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, and two others is ready to head to trial.
On Wednesday, Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge Md Sabbir Faiz ordered the case to be transferred to the Dhaka Special Judge Court and set Apr 16 for the hearing of the chargesheet.
The court’s Bench Assistant Md Riaz Hossain said, “The gazette notification in the case has been published. The case has been ordered to be transferred to another court as it is ready for trial.”
Tulip and former RAJUK assistant legal advisor Sardar Mosharraf Hossain and former RAJUK Assistant Legal Advisor Shah Md Khasruzzaman have been named as suspects in the case.
The court has issued arrest warrants against them after declaring them absconding.
On Feb 26, the judge had also ordered the issuance of a red notice through Interpol for the arrest of Tulip.
Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Assistant Director Monirul Islam filed the case on Apr 15 last year on charges of obtaining a flat at Eastern Housing Limited in Dhaka's Gulshan-2 area “by giving illegal benefits”.
The case alleges that the suspects conspired with each other to abuse their power and occupy an Eastern Housing Limited flat (Flat No. B/201, House No. 5A and 5B (old), now 113, 11B (new), Road No. 71) in Gulshan-2 without making any payment, later registering the deed.
After the case was filed, the accused Khasruzzaman filed a writ petition with the High Court in July last year seeking a suspension of the investigation against him.
The High Court then suspended the investigation into Khasruzzaman for three months.
After completing the investigation against the remaining two accused, excluding Khasruzzaman, ACC Assistant Director AKM Mortuza Ali Sagar submitted the chargesheet to the court on Jan 13 this year. The court took cognisance of it on Feb 18.
Previously, Tulip had been sentenced to two years in prison in each of three separate cases, totalling six years, over fraud in the allotment of plots in Purbachal New Town.
The British MP, who has consistently denied all allegations, has said these “false and fabricated” cases have been filed as a form of “revenge” against her aunt Hasina.
Tulip resigned from her post as a state minister in the UK government following the mass uprising that ousted Hasina from power in 2024 amid criticism over reports that she had received a “gift” of a flat in London worth 700,000 pounds from a developer linked to the Awami League.