Finish trial of radar graft case by March 31
The High Court yesterday directed the trial court to finish the trial proceedings of 24-year-old radar purchase scam case against Jatiya Party Chairman HM Ershad and three others by March 31 next year.
The HC said the lower court concerned can record statements of the case's rest 26 prosecution witnesses if they are produced by this period. The bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice JBM Hassan passed the order following an Anti-Corruption Commission's petition.
The now-defunct Bureau of Anti-Corruption filed the case with cantonment police on May 4, 1992. Ershad in collusion with others allegedly caused a loss of Tk 64.04 crore to the state exchequer by purchasing radars from the US instead of France for the air force while he was in power, according to the case statement.
On August 12, 1995, the trial court framed charges against Ershad, former air chiefs Sultan Mahmud and Mamtazuddin Ahmed, and director of United Traders Ltd AKM Musa. Musa has been absconding since the case was filed. The court earlier recorded statements of 12 witnesses out of 38, ACC lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan told The Daily Star.
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