A court in Dhaka has deferred till January 29 next year the framing of charges against BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and 14 others in the Gatco graft case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission in 2007.
Judge Shaikh Nazmul Alam of Dhaka’s Third Special Judge Court on Sunday set the new date after the lawyer for another accused, Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, sought more time for the hearing as the BNP leader could not appear in court.
Meanwhile, Khaleda Zia’s legal counsel Advocate Masud Ahmed Talukder in his petition said the former prime minister was unwell and had been receiving treatment at her Gulshan residence, which was why the hearing should be deferred.
The hearing was deferred for the 43rd time with Sunday’s order.
The ACC filed the case at Tejgaon police station against Khaleda Zia, her son Arafat Rahman Koko, then-Jamaat-e-Islami ameer Motiur Rahman Nizami and 24 others for their role in corruption regarding the signing of a contract with Global Agro Trade Co Ltd (Gatco) for container management at inland container depots in Dhaka and Chittagong. It allegedly cost the state exchequer over Tk1,000 crore.
On May 13, 2008, ACC Deputy Director Johirul Huda, also investigating officer of the case, pressed charges against Khaleda Zia and 18 others.
Others included former health minister Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, former land minister M Shamsul Islam, former agriculture minister MK Anwar, former commerce minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, former state minister for energy AKM Mosharraf Hossain and former shipping secretary Zulfikar Haider Chowdhury, former member of the Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) AK Rashid Uddin Ahmed and then-Gatco director Shahjahan M Hasib.
Nine of them, including Arafat Rahman Koko, were dropped from the chargesheet following their deaths on different dates.
Khaleda Zia is on trial in a number of cases, including the Barapukuria coal mine graft case and the Niko graft case.
