Niko graft case against Khaleda Hearing adjourned till May 14
Court Correspondent
A court in Dhaka has adjourned till May 14 the hearing of Niko graft case against BNP chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia and seven others.
Judge Sheikh Hafizur Rahman of Dhaka Special Judge's Court-9 passed the order after two more witnesses Abdul Baki and AKM Anwar Islam testify before the court on Thursday.
At the end of Thursday’s proceedings, defense concluded cross examination of Anwar, but Baki’s quizzing is yet to be finished.
The other accused in the case are- Kamal Uddin Siddiqui, Khandaker Shahidul Islam, CM Eusuf Hossain, Mir Moinul Haque, Gias Uddin Al Mamun, Selim Bhuiyan and Kashem Sharif.Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed the case against five including Begum 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.
The ACC on May 5, 2008, submitted the charge-sheet against 11 people including Khaleda Zia. The ACC accused them of causing the incurring a loss of more than Tk 13,000 crore to state exchequer by signing that deal.
As the three accused-Barrister Moudud Ahmed, AKM Mosharraf Hossain and Md Shafiur Rahman died of natural causes, they were discharged from the case, leaving the eight other accused to face justice.
The court on March 19, 2023, framed charges against the eight accused. Begum Khaleda Zia, who is now on bail, pleaded not guilty through her lawyer on that day and demanded justice.
