United News of Bangladesh

The Appellate Division on Wednesday acquitted BNP leader Amanullah Aman and his wife Sabera Aman in a corruption case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) over two decades ago. A three-member bench of the Appellate Division, led by Acting Chief Justice Ashfaqul Islam, passed the order, cancelling the 13-year and 3-year prison sentences handed down to Aman and Sabera, respectively. Barrister Mahbub Uddin Khokon represented the couple in the court, while lawyer Asif Hasan appeared for the ACC during the hearing. Speaking to the media, Barrister Khokon said the apex court overturned the High Court's earlier verdict and cleared the couple of all charges. Ayna Ghor was the biggest invention of fascist AL govt: Aman Ullah Aman With this ruling, there is no legal bar for Amanullah Aman to contest future elections, he added. The ACC had filed the case with Kafrul Police Station on March 6, 2007, accusing the couple of concealing wealth information and amassing assets beyond their known sources of income. On June 21 that year, a special court in Dhaka sentenced Aman to 13 years in prison and Sabera to three years. The couple later challenged the verdict in the High Court, which acquitted them on August 16, 2010. The ACC, however, appealed the acquittal. Aman Ullah Aman gets acquittal in extortion case On May 26, 2014, the Appellate Division scrapped the HC’s verdict and ordered a rehearing. Following the rehearing, the High Court on May 30, 2023, upheld the initial convictions. The couple then appealed to the Appellate Division once more, which led to today’s final acquittal.

The Appellate Division on Wednesday scrapped a lower court order to frame charges against Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus and 13 others in a graft case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). A six-member bench, led by Chief Justice Dr Syed Refaat Ahmed, passed the order after hearing a petition filed by the defendants, challenging a High Court (HC) verdict. The case was filed on May 30, 2023, by then ACC Deputy Director Gulshan Anowar, accusing 14 people of misappropriating Tk 25.22 crore from the Employees Welfare Fund of Grameen Telecom. The ACC approved charge submission on January 29 last year, with chargesheets formally submitted to a Dhaka court on February 1. On June 8, the court ordered the framing of charges and scheduled a hearing for July 15. ACC chairman seeks people's cooperation to build corruption-free Bangladesh On July 8, Dr Yunus and others petitioned the HC to cancel the charge framing order, which was rejected on July 24. Later, they filed a leave-to-appeal with the Appellate Division, which accepted the petition on October 21 and sought a concise statement. Meanwhile, on August 11, the ACC submitted a plea to Dhaka Special Judge Court-4 seeking withdrawal of the case—just six days after former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country amid a student-led mass uprising.