The verdicts in six corruption cases against ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina and her family members over irregularities in the allocation of plots in the Purbachal New Town Project are expected to be delivered by late October or November, Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Chairman Abdul Momen said today.

He said this in response to questions from journalists during a media briefing following the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) and the ACC at the commission’s headquarters this morning.

“The six cases against Sheikh Hasina and her family are still under trial. After the completion of witness testimonies, we expect the court to announce the verdicts either by the end of October or the beginning of November, depending on the court’s consideration,” the ACC chairman told reporters.

Momen also informed that the ACC has taken initiatives to revive the Gulsan case against Hasina's niece and British MP Tulip Siddiq, which had earlier been stayed by a High Court order.

Commenting on ACC’s stance on transparency, the chairman said, “Let me be very clear about internal corruption. If the ACC office itself is not free from corruption, it will have no moral authority to ask other offices to be corruption-free.”

“Our first task is to cleanse ourselves of corruption. In this effort, the media has been playing the most vital role,” he said.