A Dhaka court has fixed May 13 for the charge frame hearing in the Niko graft case filed against BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia.
Judge Mahmudul Kabir of the Special Court 9 fixed the date on Thursday.
Confirming the matter, Khaleda Zia’s lawyer Sanaullah Mia said: “The BNP chief is in jail for some other case. We requested the court on this matter and the court has granted us time and deferred the charge hearing.”
On March 11, the same court had fixed April 19 (today) for the hearing.
On December 9, 2007, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed the graft case with Tejgaon police station accusing Khaleda and 11 others of abusing power to award a gas exploration and extraction deal to Canadian company Niko during her time in office as prime minister.
The commission submitted the charge sheet against the accused on May 5, 2008.
Others accused in the case are former law minister Moudud Ahmed, former state minister for energy AKM Mosharraf Hossain, former acting energy secretary Khandaker Shahidul Islam, and Kashem Sharif, vice-president (South Asia) of Niko Resources Bangladesh Ltd.
This article was first published on banglatribune.com