HC clears way for continuing Moudud's trial

The High Court yesterday cleared the way for the lower court to continue the trial proceedings of a corruption case against former BNP law minister Moudud Ahmed.

Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on September 16, 2007 filed the case against Moudud with Gulshan Police Station on the charge of amassing wealth beyond his known sources of income and withholding information about his assets.

Yesterday, the HC rejected a writ petition, filed by Barrister Moudud, challenging the legality of the ACC's interpretation about his incomes. In the petition filed on March 22, Moudud prayed to the HC to stay the trial proceedings.

The bench of Justice Obaidul Hassan and Justice  Krishna Debnath rejected the petition considering that it was not placed properly.

Moudud told The Daily Star that the ACC mentioned in the case that he concealed the information about his wealth worth Tk 4 crore, although his asset is much less than his lawful income.

He also said the ACC gave interpretation of his income and neat income in the case although the commission has no jurisdiction to do so.

ACC's lawyer Advocate Khurshid Alam Khan told The Daily Star that there is no legal bar for the lower court to continue the trial against Moudud following the HC order.

A Dhaka court on June 21 last year framed charges against Moudud in the corruption case.