Former BNP state minister Iqbal Hassan Mahmood Tuku yesterday sued recently retired army chief Moeen U Ahmed for defamation and Tk 100 crore in damages.
On his behalf, barrister Moudud Ahmed lodged the case with the Third Joint District Judge’s Court, Dhaka.
The complainant said he was hurt and defamed by some remarks General (retd) Moeen made in March 2007.
On a petition filed by Tuku the same day the court asked Moeen to explain within three weeks why his property should not be attached.
Earlier, in response to the defamation suit, Judge SM Saiful Islam ordered the ex-army boss to appear before it and submit a written statement on August 16.
This is the first time Moeen has been accused in a case.
Tuku, ex-state minister for power and energy, submitted Tk 40,250 as court fee, which is the highest of its kind.
The complaint reads that on March 27, 2007, the then army chief said corrupt politicians had siphoned off at least Tk 20,000 crore from the energy sector during the four-party alliance rule.
He made the remarks at a tea party he hosted in honour of the freedom fighters at the National Parade Square.
The following day different national dailies ran reports on the comments that damaged Tuku’s reputation in society and political fraternity.
On February 2 that year, the army-led joint forces arrested the BNP leader at his Mohammadpur house without any charges.
Tuku, who came out on bail on December 15 last year, claims even his family members were not spared torture during the state of emergency.
In the complaint, he cited the incumbent energy minister’s observation in parliament that allocations for the sector during the four-party rule amounted to Tk 13,500 crore.
Besides, a committee headed by a former Buet vice-chancellor probed the corruption allegations involving the energy sector in 2007, but did not find anything, he added.
The energy secretary has been made a pro-forma defendant in the suit to represent the government.
In the attachment petition, Tuku sought an order in advance to seize Moeen’s house on 106 Northern Road at the city’s Baridhara DOHS.
The petition said if the defendant hands over his property to another, the plaintiff would face an irreparable loss.
Moeen, who was appointed the army chief on July 15, 2005, went into retirement on completing his tenure of service on June 15.
He left Dhaka for Singapore on June 29 and has yet to return.
His term was scheduled to end on June 15, 2008, but in April 2008 the then president Iajuddin Ahmed extended it for a year more.
Moeen is considered a key architect of the political changeover that came on January 11, 2007.
He all along backed the Fakhruddin Ahmed-led interim government, whose two-year rule culminated in the December 29 general election.
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