Earlier, the same court discharged Tarique and four others in a graft case.

Judge Rezaul Karim Khan of the Special Court for Dhaka Division issued the order at a jam-packed courtroom in the presence of Tarique and the other accused.

The court in its order said the accused were discharged, as charges brought against them were not proved.

Other discharged are Major (retd) Syed Iskander Mirza, MP Giasuddin Al Mamun, Reazuddin Al Mamoon, Mohammad Belal Millat alias Mesbahul Millat and former executive vice-president of IFIC Bank Ltd AHM Shawkat Ali Chowdhury.

The defence lawyers earlier submitted discharge petition and made submission on it, while the prosecution prayed for framing charges against the accused.

Now-defunct Bureau of Anti-Corruption (Bac) filed the case with Motijheel Police Station on October 10, 1996. The investigation officer (IO) pressed charges against the accused on July 27, 1997.

The case said Tarique and others on January 1, 1992 applied to the IFIC Bank's Motijheel branch for a loan of Tk 60 lakh to import machinery to set up an export oriented garment factory.

The branch office recommended and forwarded the application to the head office on January 24 the same year without examining records of the promoters, said the complainant.

The head office sanctioned the loan on the condition of collateral security valued Tk 1.08 crore. Milon Miah, a civil engineer, provided the collateral security with a piece of 1.02-acre land in Mirpur.

The complainant said Milon had purchased the land for Tk 2 lakh that had been assessed at a value of Tk 1.08 crore only five days after the purchase.

Tarique and others took the loan in connivance with bank authorities, the complainant added.

The court earlier cleared Tarique, Iskander Mirza, Al Mamun, former managing director of Sonali Bank M Ehsanul Haq and Abdul Khaleq Pathan of charges in another graft case.

The Bac filed the case with Motijheel Police Station on September 14, 1996 and the IO pressed charges on May 22, 1997.

The complainant said Tarique and others took a loan of Tk 15.3 crore showing equity of Tk 1 crore instead of Tk 5.6 crore. They also showed the value of the mortgaged land Tk 18 lakh, which was Tk 1.2 lakh only, the complainant added.

A Dhaka court also discharged Tarique and two of his friends in another graft case on April 16, 2002.