Niko made assets thru’ graft: SC
The properties of Niko Resources Limited were obtained in Bangladesh through corruption, the Supreme Court said in the full text of a verdict.
"In this particular case, the international community of the law enforcement agencies through mutual legal assistance has managed to uncover the sophisticated corruption scheme of the respondents No 4 and No 5 [Niko Resources Limited].
"It has been established that the properties of respondents No 4 and No 5 in Bangladesh were obtained as a result of their general criminal conduct through the setting up of a scheme of corruption. In such a situation, there is a duty upon us to confiscate these assets," a four-member bench of the Appellate Division of the SC led by Chief Justice Hasan Foez Siddique observed in the 58-page judgment released recently.
The other three judges are Justice M Enayetur Rahim, Justice Md Ashfaqul Islam and Justice Jahangir Hossain Selim.
On June 18 this year, the apex court bench delivered a short verdict dismissing an appeal filed by Niko challenging a High Court judgement that on August 24, 2017, declared illegal and void the deals Niko signed with Bapex and Petrobangla for the development and production of petroleum from abandoned Chattak and Feni fields.
Niko inked the deals -- joint venture agreement and gas purchase and sales agreement (GPSA) -- with Bapex and Petrobangla in 2003 and 2006 respectively.
In the full text verdict, the SC upheld the HC verdict and observations and issued a strong warning against corruption and corrupt persons, saying that "none would be spared.
"Politically influential persons and government officials who illegally enrich themselves through the abuse of power, and unscrupulous investors who facilitate such corruption, deprive the state of its property and hinder the economic development of the country".
"The laws of Bangladesh envisage the creation of a fair and just society in which crime does not pay. The constitution empowers us with the duty to ensure that this vision is achieved by declaring any ultra vires exercise of government authority of no legal effect and also declaring void any resultant contract procured through illegal acts such as corruption," the SC judges said in the full text of the verdict.
The SC bench said, "Criminals are becoming more and more sophisticated while states such as Bangladesh have to work hard to fight them within the constraints of the limited resources of a developing nation.
"Corrupt international companies hide behind corporate veils and depend heavily upon the barriers of sovereignty to shield themselves and the evidence of their crimes from detection. Companies such as the respondents No 4 and No 5 [Niko] orchestrate transnational crimes and then disperse and conceal the proceeds of their illicit activities the world over cannot be allowed to continue to act with impunity while committing fraud and corruption."
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