A Dhaka court on Tuesday fixed November 8 for the indictment hearing in the Niko graft case filed against BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia and 10 others.
Dhaka Special Court-9 Judge Sheikh Hafizur Rahman fixed the fresh date following a time petition filed, said Khaleda’s lawyer Hannan Bhuiyan.
The other accused in the case are AKM Mosharraf Hossain, former state minister for energy, Kamal Uddin Siddique, former principal secretary to prime minister, Khandaker Shahidul Islam, former acting energy secretary, CM Yousuf Hossain, former senior assistant secretary of the Energy and Mineral Resources Department, Meer Moynul Haque, former senior general manager of Bapex, Shafiur Rahman, former secretary of Bapex, Giasuddin Al Mamun, managing director of One Group, Selim Bhuiyan, chairman and managing director of International Travel Corporation, and Kashem Sharif, vice president (South Asia) of Niko Resources Bangladesh Ltd.
On December 9, 2007, the ACC filed a case at Tejgaon police station on charges that Khaleda and several others had abused their power to award a gas exploration and extraction deal to Canadian company Niko, when she was prime minister from 2001 to 2006.
On May 5, 2008, the anti-graft watchdog pressed charges against Khaleda and 10 others in the graft case.
Two months later, the High Court stayed the proceedings of the case following a petition filed by the BNP chairperson.
Following an ACC move, on June 18, 2016, the High Court cleared the way for the trial to resume against Khaleda and others in the case.
Khaleda, a former prime minister, was sentenced to five years in jail in the Zia Orphanage Trust case on February 8, 2018. The sentence was later increased to 10 years by the High Court.
Khaleda was also sentenced to seven years of imprisonment in the Zia Charitable Trust graft case.
