HC clears way for trial resumption against ex-CPA chief Lutful Kabir

The High Court yesterday cleared the way for the lower court to resume trial proceedings of the Gatco graft case against Lutful Kabir, former director of Chittagong Port Authority.
The HC rejected a petition filed by Lutful in 2007 for scrapping the proceedings of the case against him.
The Anti-Corruption Commission filed the case against former premier Khaleda Zia, her son Arafat Rahman Koko, Lutful Kabir and 20 others on September 2, 2007.
The case was filed against the accused on charges of corruption in awarding Global Agro Trade (Pvt) Co Ltd (Gatco) the contract for container management at inland container depots in Dhaka and Chittagong causing a loss of over Tk 1,000 crore to the state exchequer.
After Lutful filed the petition, the HC on August 13, 2008 stayed the case proceedings against him and issued a rule upon the ACC and the government to explain why the proceedings against Lutful should not be quashed.
After hearing on the rule yesterday, the HC rejected Lutful's petition.  
The court, however, said Lutful will remain on bail in the case.
ACC lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan told The Daily Star that the court on different dates stayed the trial proceedings of the case against Khaleda Zia and former ministers MK Anwar, Matiur Rahman Nizami and Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain and some others accused.
All the accused of the case are now on bail, he added.