Court fixes date for hearing of graft case against ex-CJ Sinha

A Dhaka court on Wednesday set 27 June for holding hearing of a case against former chief justice Surendra Kumar Sinha and 10 others for allegedly embezzling Tk 40 million (4 crore) from Farmers Bank (renamed Padma Bank) and laundering the money abroad, reports BSS.

Judge Sheikh NazmJudge Sheikh Nazmul Alam of Dhaka Special Judge Court-4 fixed the date as the subordinate courts and tribunals recently started holding hearings of cases with physical appearances.

The defence was scheduled to cross examine the investigation officer and Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) director Benjir Ahmed on the next hearing date as he submitted his testimony on 1 April to the court. But, soon after that the court proceedings came to standstill due to the surge in Covid-19 cases.

A total of 20 witnesses out of 21 have so far testified in the case.

Dhaka Special Judge Court-4 framed charges in the case on 13 August 2020.

ACC director Benjir Ahmed filed the charge-sheet in the case with the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions judge KM Imrul Qayes on 10 December 2019.

The court, however, on 20 February 2020, transferred the case to Dhaka Special Judge Court-4 for further proceedings.

The ACC filed the case against Sinha on 10 July 2019, on allegation of embezzling Tk 40 million from the Farmers Bank and laundering the money abroad.

The other accused are - Farmers Bank managing director AKM Shameem, first vice-presidents Swapan Kumar Roy and Shafiuddin Askaree, senior executive vice-president Gazi Salauddin, vice-president M Lutful Haque, bank’s entrepreneur director Md Mahbubul Haque Chisty alias Babul Chisty, bank clients Md Shahjahan, Niranjan Chandra Saha, his uncle Ranajit Chandra Saha, and Ranajit’s wife Santi Roy.

According to the allegation, Md Shahjahan and Niranjan took the money as loan from the Bank, which was later transferred to justice Sinha’s Sonali Bank account, showing it was earned from selling of his (Sinha’s) house.