Court Correspondent :
BNP Standing Committee Member Mirza Abbas was acquitted in two separate cases filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and discharged, along with his wife, in another case on Tuesday.
In the first case, ACC Public Prosecutor Mir Ahmed Ali Salam filed an application earlier that morning, seeking the withdrawal of the charges against Mirza Abbas.
The charges involved allegations of irregularities in plot allocation. Following a brief hearing, Judge Rabiul Alam of the Special Judge Court-4 of Dhaka granted the application, acquitting Mirza Abbas. The other defendants in this case, former BNP MP Ali Asgar Lobi and government official Mahfuzul Islam, were also acquitted.
The case originated from an incident in 2006 when Mirza Abbas, serving as the Public Works Minister, was accused of facilitating the allotment of a 19.44 Katha plot in the Tejgaon Industrial Area to a company named “Pacific Chemicals” through alleged irregularities. The ACC, represented by Deputy Director Syed Iqbal Hossain, had filed the case on July 15, 2007, at Shahbagh Police Station, and charges were framed against the three accused on February 11, 2008.
In a separate hearing, Judge Masud Parvez of Special Judge Court-6 acquitted Mirza Abbas in a case where he was accused of illegally acquiring wealth beyond his known sources of income and concealing the information. The case, filed by ACC Deputy Director Md Shafiul Alam on August 16, 2007, at Ramna Model Police Station, alleged that Mirza Abbas had concealed assets worth 7.55 crores that were inconsistent with his income.
After an investigation, the ACC submitted the charge sheet on May 24, 2008, and charges were framed on June 16 of the same year. During the trial, 24 witnesses testified before the court, but the charges could not be proven.
Additionally, the same court discharged Mirza Abbas and his wife, Afroza Abbas, in another corruption case related to the acquisition of assets beyond known income and the concealment of assets. The couple had earlier submitted an application to the court seeking exemption from the liabilities of the case, which the court granted.
