‎A Dhaka court on Wednesday acquitted BNP Joint Secretary General Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Annie in a case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) over alleged illegal accumulation of wealth.

‎Judge Md Zakaria Hossain of Dhaka’s Special Judge Court-6 delivered the verdict as the prosecution failed to prove the charges against the accused beyond a reasonable doubt. During the trial, nine out of 12 witnesses gave their testimony before the court.

Earlier on 9 October 2014, the ACC filed the case against Annie, and the court on 16 July this year fixed 23 July as the date for the verdict after closing the argument.

‎According to case details, the case alleged that Annie had concealed information about assets worth Tk13 lakh in the wealth statement submitted to the ACC. In addition, the ACC claimed that he had acquired illegal wealth of Tk1 crore 40 lakh.

‎In terms of undisclosed assets, case documents state that Annie possessed assets, including undeclared ones, totaling Tk3 crore 75 lakh. Among these, he declared liabilities amounting to Tk50 lakh. After deduction, his net assets stood at Tk3 crore 25 lakh.

‎However, according to the asset statement dated 30 June 2013, he had declared assets worth Tk1 crore 76 lakh. On 24 May 2016, the Special Judge Court of Dhaka ordered the commencement of the trial by framing charges against Annie.

On 1 September 2016, in response to Annie’s petition, the High Court stayed the trial proceedings and issued a rule asking why the case should not be dismissed. On 14 May 2019, the High Court lifted the stay order and directed the court to conclude the trial within six months.