SC upholds acquittal of Manju

The Supreme Court yesterday upheld a High Court judgment acquitting Environment and Forest Minister Anwar Hossain Manju of corruption charges brought by the Anti-Corruption Commission in 2007.

The HC in August 2010 scrapped the 13-year-jail term handed down by a lower court on Manju, chairman of the Jatiya Party, in the case the anti-graft body had filed accusing him of illegally amassing wealth of Tk 2 crore.

The HC order came in response to an appeal filed by Manju challenging the lower court verdict.

A special court delivered the verdict in 2008.

The Appellate Division dismissed an ACC's appeal against the HC judgment, saying that the HC verdict was based on evidence and documents, Manju's counsel Ahsanul Karim told The Daily Star.

He added that the ACC could not prove the allegations against Manju in court.

ACC's lawyer AKM Fazlul Huq said the anti-graft body would decide whether to seek review of the order after getting the full judgment of the SC. 

Earlier, the apex court overturned the HC's acquittal of 20 people, mostly politicians and their family members, in corruption cases and ordered rehearing of their appeals against the convictions in lower courts.

The convicts whose acquittals were scrapped by the SC include Relief and Disaster Management Minster Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya, former BNP minister Nazmul Huda and his wife Sigma Huda, former BNP state ministers Iqbal Hasan Mahmood Tuku and Mir Mohammad Nasiruddin, Nasir's son Mir Helal Uddin and independent lawmaker and AL leader Haji Mohammad Selim.