Ex-minister Ruhal given clean chit
In yet another controversial move, the Anti-Corruption Commission yesterday cleared former Health Minister Ruhal Haque of amassing illegal wealth, accepting his explanation over a mistake in his wealth statement.
In a similar fashion, the ACC last month gave clean chit to another Awami League lawmaker, Aslamul Haque, over the same allegation.
Both the AL lawmakers in their affidavits claimed that they had mistakenly showed inflated amount of wealth in the statements submitted to the Election Commission ahead of the January 5 polls.
In his wealth statement, Ruhal mentioned that his wife possessed Tk 7.53 crore wealth.
But in an affidavit later, he claimed it was a mistake and that his wife's wealth amounted to only Tk 45.17 lakh.
Neither the ACC nor the former minister could explain how one could mistake Tk 45.17 lakh for Tk 7.53 crore.
The ACC launched investigations into the wealth of seven ministers and lawmakers of the last parliament, including Ruhal, in January following news reports that their movable and immovable properties saw an astronomical rise over the past five years.
“I have applied to the Election Commission through an affidavit, seeking a correction of error in my statement regarding my wife's wealth. The commission has accepted the application,” Ruhal told reporters at the ACC headquarters in February.
He had no answers when reporters asked him how one could confuse Tk 45.17 lakh with Tk 7.53 crore.
Similarly, Aslamul in an affidavit claimed his tax adviser had mistakenly showed that he possessed 141 acres of land, but it was actually 1.41 acres.
The EC, however, has not accepted the affidavits of the two AL leaders.
"The Election Commission has not yet taken any decision regarding the affidavits," EC Secretary Sirajul Islam told The Daily Star yesterday.
Election Commissioner Abdul Mobarak had earlier said it was not possible for the EC to make corrections in someone's wealth statement based on an affidavit.
ACC Commissioner Shahabuddin told this correspondent yesterday, "We accepted the affidavits. It does not matter whether the EC accepted it or not."
According to the ACC findings, Ruhal didn't amass wealth illegally and he had no assets beyond known sources of income, said Shahabuddin.
However, contradicting his claim, a commission source said the ACC probe found a discrepancy of about Tk 2.5 crore between Ruhal's wealth statement and tax return.
After investigation officer Mirza Zahidul Alam, also ACC deputy director, submitted the report in August, the commission early last month instructed him to obtain some documents from Ruhal to clarify the mismatch.
Ruhal submitted the documents and got a clean chit, added the source.
According to Ruhal's statement submitted to the EC in 2008, Ruhal had property of Tk 4.99 crore while his wife possessed property worth Tk 97 lakh. Their wealth soared to Tk 9 crore and Tk 7.53 crore in the past five years.
Of the seven investigated by the ACC for amassing illegal wealth, three were sued in August. They are AL lawmaker Abdur Rahman Bodi, ex-state minister for water resources Mahbubur Rahman and ex-state minister for housing and public works Abdul Mannan Khan.
If found guilty, the accused could face up to seven years in prison, fines and confiscation of property.
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