Finish trial of Ershad’s radar graft case by Mar 31: HC

The High Court directed the trial court to finish trial proceedings of radar purchase scam against Jatiya Party Chairman Hussain Muhammad Ershad and three others by March 31 next year.

The HC bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice JBM Hassan passed the order on Thursday following a petition filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission seeking its directives on the lower court to record statements from 26 out of 38 prosecution witnesses.

The court also ordered the lower court concerned to record statements of 26 prosecution witnesses in the case.

The now-defunct Bureau of Anti-Corruption (BAC) filed the case with Cantonment police on May 4, 1992.

According to the case statement, Ershad in collusion with others allegedly caused a loss of Tk 64.04 crore to the state exchequer by purchasing radars from the US instead of France for the air force while he was in power.