Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant corruption: Bail to 7 engineers questioned

The High Court (HC) on Monday issued rules over bail of seven former engineers of housing and public works department in two cases filed over corruption in purchasing furniture and household items for officials of Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant in Pabna (RNPP).
In the rules, the court asked the accused to explain in two weeks why the lower court orders that granted bail to them should not be declared illegal.
The virtual HC bench of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice SM Mozibur Rahman issued the rule after hearing seven separate petitions filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) challenging the bail orders passed by a special judge's court in Pabna.
Lawyer Md Khurshid Alam Khan argued for the ACC while Deputy Attorney General AKM Amin Uddin Manik represented the State in the hearing.
On June 13, 15 and 16, the special judge's court of Pabna granted bail to the accused engineers.   During the hearing, the ACC's lawyer told the court that the lower court did not consider the gravity of the offences committed by the accused and therefore the bail orders were wrong.
The ACC filed the two cases with Pabna district office on December 12 in 2019 against the accused on charges of irregularities involving Tk 16 crore in supplying furniture and household items to the officials of RNPP.
According to several media reports, the prices of the various items used to furnish the project's 966 flats for the Russian engineers and others were abnormally higher than market prices.
Each pillow was bought for Tk 5,957, and the cost of carrying it to a flat was Tk 760. An electric stove cost Tk 7,747, and the cost of moving it from the ground floor to the top level was Tk 6,650, the report claimed.