A Dhaka court on Thursday fixed March 6 for hearing on charge framing in Barapukuria coalmine graft case against BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia and six others.
Judge AHM Ruhul Amin Imran of the Special Judge Court-2 of Dhaka fixed the date after accepting time petition filed by Khaleda Zia’s counsel Masud Ahmed Talukder.
Masud Ahmed Talukder in his petition said, Khaleda Zia is currently unwell and cannot leave her home due to the ongoing pandemic situation. Therefore, the hearing should be adjourned in the case.
But the defense counsel opposed the petition.
The other accused in the case are former ministers---Dr Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Altaf Hossain Chowdhury, Barapukuria Coalmining company’s managing director Md Sirajul Islam Chowdhury, Hossaf group chairman Moazzam Hossain, former secretary Nazrul Islam and former Petrobangla director Moinul Ahsan.
Of the six accused, Md Sirajul Islam is on the run while the other accused are currently on bail. The court issued arrest warrant against Sirajul Islam in the case.
Earlier, the High Court cleared the way for resuming trial in the case.
The HC gave the verdict after rejecting a writ petition filed by the BNP chief in 2008 challenging the legality of trial proceedings in the case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) earlier that year.
The ACC accused Khaleda Zia and others on charges of causing a loss of Tk 159 crores to the state exchequer by awarding a contract for operation of Barapukuria coalmine to a Chinese company between June 2003 and June 2005, abusing power.
Following Khaleda’s petition, the HC stayed the trial proceedings in the case.