Mosharraf acquitted of graft charges

The High Court yesterday acquitted former state minister for energy AKM Mosharraf Hossain and his estranged wife Zinat Mosharraf in a corruption case filed in 1991.
The HC bench of Justice Mizanur Rahman Bhuiyan delivered the verdict yesterday after allowing an appeal filed by the duo in 1992 against a lower court judgment.
The now defunct Bureau of Anti Corruption (BAC) filed the case with Motijheel Police Station on January 1, 1991.
According to the case, Mosharraf, being the chairman of Bangladesh Chemical and Industries Corporation (BCIC) and also secretary of the industries ministry from 1987 to 1990, along with Zinat had misappropriated Tk 7.07 lakh by using 10 vehicles, six air coolers (AC) and two refrigerators of BCIC for personal reasons.
On June 9, 1992, a lower court in Dhaka sentenced Mosharraf and Zinat to two years imprisonment and fined them Tk 5 lakh each, as the charges against them were proven.
Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan yesterday said the commission is yet to decide whether it would move an appeal to the Supreme Court against the HC verdict.
The ground of yesterday's HC verdict could not be known, as its written text was not released.