The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court yesterday stayed till August 23 the trial proceedings of a land related graft case filed against BNP standing committee member Barrister Moudud Ahmed.
A four-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha passed the order in response to a petition moved by Moudud seeking a stay on a High Court order.The apex court also directed Moudud to file a regular leave-to-appeal petition before it within August 30. It also fixed August 30 for hearing on the matter.
Khurshid Alam Khan, counsel for ACC, told reporters that the lower court concerned is also set to hear charge framing of the case on August 30.
Earlier, the apex court on August 16 set August 23 (yesterday) to hear a petition of Moudud Ahmed seeking stay on a HC verdict that cleared the way for a lower court to run a land-related corruption case against him.
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed the case with Gulshan Police Station on December 17, 2013 against former BNP minister Moudud Ahmed and his brother Monjur Ahmed on charges of grabbing government land worth over Tk 300 crore in Gulshan.
On September 14 last year, the Senior Special Judge’s Court of Dhaka took cognisance of the charges in Moudud’s presence.
On June 23 this year, the HC rejected a petition filed by Moudud challenging the legality of the lower court order accepting the charges.
The senior BNP leader filed the petition with the SC on June 28 seeking stay on the HC judgment.
Lawyer Khurshid Alam appeared for the ACC while Moudud appeared for himself during the hearing. – Staff Reporter
