Dhaka14 minutes ago
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Former Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina was sentenced to 5 years in jail by the special court of Dhaka on Monday in a corruption case. This case is related to irregularities in plot allotment in Purbachal New Town Project.
Apart from Hasina, her younger sister Sheikh Rehana was sentenced to 7 years. At the same time, Sheikh Hasina’s niece (former British MP) Tulip Rizwana Siddiq has been sentenced to 2 years imprisonment.
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) had registered 6 cases against Sheikh Hasina in January. This is the fourth decision. Earlier, Sheikh Hasina had been sentenced to 21 years in jail in 3 cases. That means now Haseena’s total sentence has become 26 years (all sentences will run consecutively, i.e. one after the other).
At present all three convicts are absconding from Bangladesh. Sheikh Hasina resigned and came to India after the coup on 5 August 2024.
Tulip Siddiq, the niece of former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina (right), stands next to her.
Hasina was sentenced to a total of 21 years in 3 cases
Sheikh Hasina was sentenced on November 27 to a total of 21 years in prison in three separate corruption cases related to the Purbachal New Town Project.
In each case he was given a sentence of 7 years each, which will run concurrently. Punishment is yet to be delivered in two cases.
These cases were registered by ACC between 12-14 January 2025. Chargesheet was filed in March 2025. Charges were framed in July 2025 and the verdict came after the testimony of 29 people.
Tulip-Rehana fined 1 lakh taka
A fine of Taka 1 lakh has also been imposed on Tulip and Sheikh Rehana. If they do not pay it, they can face additional jail term of 6 months.
Other 14 accused in the case have been sentenced to 5 years each. This decision was given by Judge Mohammad Rabiul Alam of Dhaka’s Special Court-4 at 11 am.
Tulip Siddiq got plots by pressurizing her to be an MP
A total of 17 people were accused in the Purbachal New Town Project case. It is alleged that Tulip obtained the plots by pressurizing her to be an MP of Britain’s ruling Labor Party.
Tulip wrongly acquired plots of 7 thousand square feet in the name of her mother Sheikh Rehana, sister Azmeena Siddiq and brother Radwan Mujeeb Siddiq.
The present trial involved only the case of the plot received by Sheikh Rehana, hence Azmeena and Radwan were not made accused in it. Two separate cases have been registered against him.
Sheikh Hasina and her younger sister Sheikh Rehana.
Most of the accused have absconded from the country
Apart from Sheikh Hasina, Sheikh Rehana and Tulip Siddiq, several senior officials of the Housing and Public Works Ministry, former members of RAJUK, former Minister of State Sharif Ahmed and Hasina’s personal secretary were also accused in this case.
Most of these people are still absconding and only one accused Khurshid Alam is in jail. After the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government, dozens of corruption cases have come to light against her family, of which this punishment is one of the most talked about decisions.
After these matters came to light, Tulip Siddiq resigned from the post of Economic Secretary (Treasury) in the British Government on 14 January 2025 under immense pressure.
Sheikh Hasina has been sentenced to death
Earlier, Sheikh Hasina was sentenced to death on November 17. He was sentenced to death by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) of Dhaka for inciting and ordering the murder. In the remaining cases he was sentenced to life imprisonment. ICT had made him an accused in 5 cases.
The tribunal named Sheikh Hasina as the mastermind of the killings during the July 2024 student movement. The court has ordered to confiscate Haseena’s property. After the decision, Bangladesh’s interim PM Mohammad Yunus has demanded the deportation of Hasina from India.
