The High Court has issued a rule regarding the Anti-Corruption Commission’s (ACC) inaction in investigating allegations of a $5 billion corruption scandal involving the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant Project and former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s family members.

The bench of Justice Fahmida Kader and Justice Mubina Asaf issued the rule after an initial hearing of a writ petition filed by North South University lecturer Bobby Hajjaj on September 3.

The petition included reports from the media alleging corruption in the Rooppur project. It named the Secretary of the Ministry of Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources, the Secretary of Science and Technology, the Secretary of Home Affairs, the Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, the ACC Chairman, the Managing Director of Nuclear Power Plant Company Bangladesh Limited, and the Project Director of Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, among others, including Sheikh Hasina, Sajeeb Wazed Joy, Tulip Siddiq, and Tarique Ahmed Siddiq.

The petition sought explanations as to why the failure or inaction of the respondents in preventing and investigating the alleged corruption should not be declared illegal. It also sought a directive for the ACC Chairman to investigate the allegations and take legal action against those found guilty.

Barrister Sahedul Azam represented the petitioner during the hearing

The allegations surfaced in mid-August through a report by the website Global Defence Corp, which claimed that Sheikh Hasina and her family embezzled $5 billion through a deal with Russian company Rosatom. However, Russian Ambassador to Bangladesh Alexander Mantytskiy dismissed the claims as “rumors and false information” on August 25.

Rosatom, the Russian company involved in the Rooppur project, has also issued a statement denying the allegations.

BDST: 1848 HRS, DEC 15, 2024
MSK/SMS