Rooppur power plant scam: HC questions bail order for contractor Shahadat

The High Court today questioned the lower court order that granted bail to contractor Shahadat Hossain in a case filed over corruption in purchasing furniture and household items for officials of Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant in Pabna.

The HC issued a rule asking the state to explain in two weeks why the lower court order that granted bail to contractor Shahadat in the case should not be scrapped.

The bench of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice Ahmed Sohel came up with the rule following a revision petition filed by Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) challenging the lower court order that granted bail to Shahadat Hossain, managing director of Sazin Construction Ltd that supplied the materials.

ACC lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan told The Daily Star that a Pabna court on August 26 granted bail to Shahadat in two corruption cases.

The ACC has filed two separate revision petitions with the HC challenging the Pabna court orders of bail.

After virtually hearing one petition, the HC today issued a rule in one case. The HC may hold another revision petition tomorrow, the lawyer said, adding that Shahadat got released from jail following the Pabna court's orders of bail.

Lawyers Shafique Ahmed and Mahbub Shafique appeared for Shahadat while Deputy Attorney General AKM Amin Uddin Manik represented the state.

The ACC filed the two cases with its Pabna district office against Shahadat and several others on December 12 last year on charges of committing anomalies involving Tk 16 crore in supplying furniture and household items to the officials of Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant.

Shahadat was arrested on December 12 last year in connection with the two cases.

According to media reports as well as social media, the purchase prices of various items to furnish the project's 966 flats for the Russian engineers and others were abnormally higher than the market prices.

The reports claimed that each pillow was bought for Tk 5,957, and the cost of carrying it to a flat was Tk 760. An electric stove cost Tk 7,747 and the carrying cost from the ground floor to the top one cost Tk 6,650.

The reports also said the price of an electric iron was Tk 4,154 and the carrying cost Tk 2,945.