HC acquits Nasim

The High Court (HC) yesterday scrapped the 13-year imprisonment sentence against former home minister and Awami League leader Mohammad Nasim in a graft case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), deeming the conviction against him as illegal.
Earlier, On October 8, 2007, a special court in Dhaka had sentenced Nasim on being convicted of amassing wealth illegally and concealing facts in the wealth statement.
The bench of Justice Syed Muhammad Dastagir Husain and Justice AKM Zahirul Hoque yesterday delivered the verdict upon an appeal filed by Nasim against the lower court verdict.
The defendant's lawyer Advocate AM Amin Uddin said, the HC acquitted Nasim on several grounds. The charges brought against him were not proven in the HC, he said.
The ACC secretary had issued a notice on February 18, 2007, asking Nasim to submit his wealth statements, although he had no legal jurisdiction to issue such notice, he added.
The lawyer said it was the second time the HC had to rescind a sentence handed down by the special court during the caretaker government's tenure against an individual for amassing illegal wealth and withholding information about it.
Earlier on July 13, 2009, the HC scrapped another sentence for 13 years' of imprisonment against Awami League leader Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir in a graft case filed by the ACC.
On March 13, 2007, Deputy Director of ACC, Akhter Hossain filed the case against Mohammad Nasim with Dhanmondi Police Station on charge of illegally acquiring wealth worth Tk 1.26 crore and concealing information about Tk 20 lakh.