The High Court has issued a rule asking why the ACC's inaction should not be declared illegal in the investigation into allegations that ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy and niece Tulip Siddique embezzled 500 crore dollars from the country's largest and most expensive project, the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, through a Malaysian bank.
A High Court bench comprising Justice Fahmida Quader and Justice Mubina Asaf issued the rule on Sunday (December 15).
Barrister Shahedul Azam Tamal placed the writ petition in court.
Earlier, a writ petition was filed in the High Court seeking an investigation into allegations that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted in the student uprising on September 3, embezzled 500 billion dolar (Tk 60,000 crore in Bangladeshi currency) from the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (RNPP) through a Malaysian bank by her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy and niece Tulip Siddique.
National Democratic Movement-NDM Chairman Bobby Hajjaj filed the writ. Barrister Shahedul Azam is the lawyer for the writ.
The writ challenges the inaction in the investigation of the allegations. The Secretary of the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, the Secretary of the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs, the ACC Chairman, Sheikh Hasina, Sajeeb Wazed Joy, Tulip Siddique and Tarek Ahmed Siddique have been made respondents.
Earlier, reports were published in the media on the matter. On August 19, various newspapers published reports on the corruption of Sheikh Hasina's family in the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant. The writ was filed in the High Court along with that report.
The report said that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted in the student-public uprising, her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy and niece Tulip Siddique embezzled 5 billion or 500 crore dollars (Tk. 60 thousand crore in Bangladeshi currency) from the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (RNPP) through Malaysian banks.
The Global Defense Corp report titled 'Ousted Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Her Son Sajeeb Wazed Joy and Niece Tulip Siddique Embezzled 500 core Dollars from Overpriced 12.65 Billion Dollars Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant Through Malaysian Banks' said that the project implementing agency, Russia's Rosatom, provided Sheikh Hasina with the opportunity to embezzle this money through Malaysian banks. His son Sajeeb Wazed Joy and niece Tulip Siddique mediated in this.
It is said that the work of realizing the long-cherished dream of a nuclear power plant in Bangladesh began in 2017. Sheikh Hasina started the construction of the main building of this power plant. This power plant is expected to supply up to 20 percent of the country's electricity in the near future. It is estimated that the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant will be able to generate 2,400 megawatts of electricity by 2024 using two VVER units. This will certainly help greatly in meeting the growing electricity demand of Bangladesh. Under the guise of such positive media publicity, Sheikh Hasina and her family members have embezzled more than $5 billion to buy a Soviet-era nuclear reactor from the Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation (Rosatom).
Its construction cost has been estimated at 12.65 billion dollars. Through this, Russia helped former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina secretly transfer Tk. 500 crore to various banks in Malaysia. This money came from a special Russian fund in those Malaysian banks.
The report said that Bangladesh has no experience in working with the nuclear sector. In addition, there is no professional person in Bangladesh who can supervise the design and construction of a nuclear power plant. Yet, Bangladesh signed an agreement with Russia to build a power plant and gave Russia full control of the construction work without any supervision. Because of this, Sheikh Hasina and her family members received financial benefits of Tk. 500 crore.
However, recent media reports on the high construction cost of this project have given an opportunity to discuss the issue from various angles. The general public has now started raising questions about the entire power project. The involvement of top state institutions like the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission in this is truly uncomfortable.
Due to public interest in the whole matter, it has not been limited to a departmental investigation but has escalated to the High Court Division.
The statement of the investigation committee said that the ministry has no involvement in the official activities of this project, contractor approval or appointment. If the ministry is not responsible for supervision, then who will take responsibility for it?
Tulip Siddique has been a controversial mediator between Sheikh Hasina and Russia's Rosatom in London before the Rooppur nuclear power plant deal was finalized. Tulip Siddique was Sheikh Hasina's companion during her meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2013. According to Global Defense Corp, she also brokered a billion-dollar arms deal between Dhaka and Moscow. She later played a key role in Bangladesh's ongoing Rooppur nuclear power plant with Russian support. However, Tulip did not provide this service for free. In return, she also received a monthly honorarium from her aunt, former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. In addition, since January 2009, Tulip's mother Sheikh Rehana and some members of the Sheikh family received 30 percent of the money as kickbacks (secret payments) from the Russians. This money was then secretly kept in several offshore bank accounts in Malaysia. In 2009, Tulip Siddique, her mother Sheikh Rehana and Uncle Tariq Ahmed Siddique, the then Prime Minister's Defense Adviser, started a fake company called 'Prachaya Limited'. This company is also accused of laundering 900 million dollar from Destiny Group to various countries around the world, including the UK. They also opened a company in the UK called Jumana Investment and Properties Limited.