Indictment hearing in Niko graft case deferred

A Dhaka court on Sunday adjourned until 30 May the hearing on charge framing in Niko graft case against Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia and others, reports BSS.

Judge Sheikh Hafizur Rahman of Dhaka 9th special judge court passed the order this morning.

The hearing on charge framing was set to be held today, 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 Begum Khaleda Zia with Tejgaon police station on 9 December 2007, for abusing power in signing a deal with Canadian company Niko for exploring and extracting gas.

The ACC on 5 May 2008 submitted the charge-sheet against 11 people including Khaleda Zia.

The anti-corruption body accused them of incurring a loss of more than Tk 137 billion of state exchequer by that deal.

Khaleda is now behind the bar after being convicted in Zia Orphanage Trust graft case on 8 February 2018.

She was sentenced to five-year imprisonment, which later enhanced to 10 by the High Court.