Pirojpur Graft Cases: ACC moves to cancel bail of ex-AL MP Awal

The Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) yesterday filed three separate revision petitions with the High Court seeking cancellation of a Pirojpur court order that granted bail to former Awami League lawmaker AKMA Awal and his wife Laila Parvin in three corruption cases in March this year.

ACC lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan told The Daily Star that the court of the then Pirojpur district and sessions judge Abdul Mannan on March 3 had ordered the authorities concerned to send AKMA Awal and his wife Laila Parvin to jail, rejecting their bail prayers in three corruption cases.

The same day, district Joint District and Sessions Judge Nahid Nasrin, who has been given the responsibility of acting district and sessions judge of Pirojpur, granted them bail after they moved a review petition.

"We submitted the revision petitions to the High Court today seeking cancellation of the bail of Abdul Awal and his wife. We said in the revision petitions that the judge court order that had rejected their bail petitions was correct," said ACC counsel Khurshid Alam Khan.

He said the HC may hold hearing on the revision petitions today.

Hours after sending Awal and his wife to jail, judge Abdul Mannan was stand-released over corruption allegations and attached to the law ministry on approval from the Supreme Court on March 3.

Awal, an ex-MP of the Pirojpur-1 constituency, also president of the district AL, is accused in three cases filed for leasing khas (government) land using fake documents. His wife is accused in one case.

On January 7, Awal and his wife were granted ad-interim bail from the High Court. Later, the Appellate Division of the SC upheld the HC order after the anti-graft watchdog appealed for cancelling their bail.

Awal was elected MP from Pirojpur-1 for two consecutive terms in 2008 and 2014.

According to one case statement, the former lawmaker took lease of khas land using fake documents and built a three-storey building on it. The building was rented out to Nazirpur office of Pirojpur Palli Bidyut Samity for Tk 17,250 a month from October 1, 2017.