No undue favour taken from Hasina

Summit Group Chairman Muhammed Aziz Khan yesterday said he did not take any undue favour from former premier Sheikh Hasina against his Tk 3 crore donation to the Bangabandhu Memorial Trust to establish Bangabandhu Museum.
Talking to a spokesman of Summit Group over telephone from abroad, Aziz denied the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) allegation that the amount was given illegally to get a deal for setting up a barge-mount 100MW power plant in Khulna depriving the lowest bidder.
He said Wartsila Power Development Ltd Consortium, presently known as Khulna Power Co Ltd, was the lowest bidder as per the terms of the tender and that international auditors and financiers have confirmed it.
A declaration suit has been filed with the District Court of Dhaka to establish Aziz's claim.
"No undue favour was received or necessary from the former prime minister of Bangladesh," he said.
On September 2 last year, the ACC filed the case against detained Hasina and six prominent personalities for helping a foreign company and its local partners--Wartsila Consortium, Summit Group and United Group--win the deal "through mutual understanding and use of influence".
The case statement said the three companies paid the Tk 3 crore kickback, which was spent for buying a house in Dhanmondi for the Bangabandhu Memorial Trust set up and controlled by Hasina.
The other accused in the case are former energy secretary Dr Toufiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, former Power Development Board chairman Noor Uddin Mahmud Kamal, Summit Industries and Mercantile Corporation Private Ltd Managing Director Aziz Khan and Director Farid Khan, United Group Chairman Hasan Mahmud Raja and Director Abul Kalam Azad.