POBNEWS24, Dhaka, Jan 27, 2025 : The High Court has ordered a stay on all proceedings in the Bora Pukuria coal mine corruption case.
A bench of High Court Justice Abu Taher Md. Saifur Rahman and Justice Shawkat Ali Chowdhury passed the order on the petition of Hosaf Meter owner Moazzem Hossain.
Senior Advocate Barrister Ruhul Quddus Kajal, Senior Advocate Barrister ABM Altaf Hossain and Advocate Khandaker Maruf Hossain were the lawyers in the court today. Advocate Asif Hasan was on behalf of the ACC. Additional Attorney General Arshadur Rouf conducted the hearing on behalf of the government.
Earlier, on November 27, former Prime Minister and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia was acquitted from the case.
Regarding the case, the lawyers said that the tender work for coal extraction from the Bora Pukuria coal mine was completed in accordance with all the rules. The One Eleven government filed a case against the top leadership of the BNP and Awami League just to keep them away from politics.
Later, Sheikh Hasina came to power and influenced the court to withdraw her name from the case. And out of revenge, she started using the court against Khaleda Zia and BNP leaders. Because of this, the court could not frame charges in the case for a long time.
Incidentally, during the previous caretaker government, Md. Shamsul Alam, Assistant Director of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), filed a case at the capital’s Shahbagh Police Station on February 26, 2008. On October 5 of that year, ACC Deputy Director Md. Abul Kashem Fakir filed a charge sheet in court accusing 16 people, including Khaleda Zia.
Among the accused in the chargesheet, former Finance and Planning Minister Md. Saifur Rahman, former BNP Secretary General and former Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Minister Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, and former Petrobangla Chairman SR Osmani were acquitted of the charges as they had already died.
