Charge framing hearing against Khaleda deferred

A Dhaka court has set October 20 for hearing on charge framing in Niko graft case against BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia and others, reports BSS.

Sheikh Hafizur Rahman, judge of Dhaka 9th Special Court, passed the order on Tuesday at the newly-built courtroom in front of Keraniganj Central Jail.

Prime accused Khaleda Zia did not appear before the court on health ground, making her counsel Zia Uddin Zia file a time plea again.

Accepting the plea, the court adjourned the hearing until October 20

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed the case against five including Khaleda Zia with Tejgaon thana on December 9, 2007, for abusing power in signing a deal with Canadian company Niko for exploring and extracting gas.

The ACC on May 05, 2008 submitted the charge-sheet against 11 people including Khaleda Zia. The ACC accused them of incurring monetary loss to the state exchequer by that deal.