The hearing on charge framing in the Niko graft case against BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia, and others, has been adjourned till May 6.
Judge Sheikh Hafizur Rahman of the Dhaka 9th special judge court passed the order on Tuesday, reports BSS.
April 23 was set to hold a hearing on charge framing, but the jail authorities could not produce Khaleda Zia before the court as she is undergoing treatment at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU).
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed the case against five—including Khaleda Zia—with Tejgaon police station on December 9, 2007, for abusing power in signing a deal with Canadian company Niko for exploring and extracting gas.
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The ACC on May 5, 2008, submitted a charge sheet against 11 people, including Khaleda Zia. The ACC accused them of incurring a loss of more than Tk13,000 crore to the state exchequer by that deal.
Khaleda is currently behind bars after being convicted in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case on February 8, 2018. She was sentenced to five-years' imprisonment, which later was enhanced to ten years by the High Court.
Khaleda was also sentenced to seven years' imprisonment in the Zia Charitable Trust graft case.
