The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

The High Court yesterday granted temporary bail to DCC Mayor Sadek Hossain Khoka, just hours after a lower court issued warrant of arrest against him and stayed the proceedings of a graft case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).

The Dhaka Metropolitan Session's Judge Azizul Haque accepted the charge sheet of the case at 2 :00pm yesterday and issued the arrest warrant order against Khoka in a graft case.

Khoka appealed to the HC within two hours of the issuance of the warrant of arrest.

Sources said Khoka went to the High court in a microbus without flag and appealed in the HC for bail at about 3:30pm and the HC granted the bail. The HC bail order will remain effective until July 16.

The Anti-Corruption Commission on April 2 filed the case against Mayor Khoka, his wife, son and daughter on charges of amassing wealth "illegally and concealing wealth information".

On July 1, the ACC pressed the charges against him as part of the anti-graft watchdog's sweeping drive against high-profile corruption suspects listed out by the interim regime.

Shamsul Alam, Assistant Director of ACC and also investigation officer (IO), filed the case with the Ramna police accusing Khoka and his wife Ismat Ara, daughter Sarika Sadeque and son Ishrak Hossain of accumulating wealth worth over Tk 17.57 crore which does not match his legal income.

The IO accused Khoka of concealing wealth worth about Tk 10 crore in his wealth statement he submitted to the ACC in December last year.

He is discharging his mayoral duties even after his five-year tenure has expired as the subsequent election date is yet to be announced.

Khoka, also president of city BNP, switched sides in the recent split in the immediate-past ruling party into reformist and Khaleda-loyalist groups amid a wind of interim government-driven changes in the country.

A lawyer for Khoka's wife appealed to the court yesterday for a reinvestigation into the case claiming that the ACC's charge sheet was faulty and incomplete. The court rejected the plea, but ordered a halt to the charges against Ismat Ara due to a stay order by the High Court. Defence lawyers also asked for Khoka's daughter and son to be exempted from the charges.

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) will appeal to the appellate division of the Supreme Court against the bail granted by the High Court.