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Niko graft case: Bench fixed to hear Khaleda’s appeal
A bench has been fixed for the hearing on a petition filed by BNP Chairperson Khaleda.
A bench has been fixed for the hearing on a petition filed by BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia with the High Court seeking directives to cancel the charge framing order in the Niko graft case.
A High Court division bench of Justice Mustafa Zaman Islam and Justice Md Aminul Islam passed the order on Sunday (May 21).
Khurshid Alam Khan, a lawyer for Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), confirmed this to the media.
Earlier on May 17, BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia filed a petition with the High Court seeking directives to cancel the charge framing order in the Niko graft case.
BNP Chief’s Barrister Kaiser Kamal filed the petition with the concerned High Court bench.
On March 19, Judge Sheikh Hafizur Rahman of the Special Judge’s Court-9 of Dhaka framed charges against BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and seven others in the Niko graft case.
The other accused are former principal secretary to the former prime minister Kamal Uddin Siddique, former BAPEX general manager Mir Moinul Haque, former Niko vice-president for South Asia Kashem Sharif, former acting secretary for energy ministry Khondaker Shahidul Islam, its former senior assistant secretary CM Yusuf Hussain, and BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman's close friend Giausuddin Al Mamun.
Of them, first three figures have been absconding.
Three of the accused in the case -- including former state minister for energy and BNP leader AKM Mosharraf Hossain and former law minister Moudud Ahmed – passed away earlier. Their names were dropped from the charge sheet.
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed the case on December 9, 2007, accusing Khaleda and several others of abusing power to award a gas exploration and extraction deal to Canadian company Niko when she was prime minister between 2001 and 2006.
After an investigation, the ACC pressed charges against Khaleda and 10 others on May 5, 2008. The charge sheet accused them of causing a loss of Tk 13,777 crore to the state exchequer through the deal.