A Dhaka court today (August 9) adjourned till August 14 the hearing of Niko graft case against BNP chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia and seven others.

Justice Mustafa Zaman Islam and Justice Md. Aminul Islam of the High Court bench passed the order.

The court on May 23 started recording depositions of the witness and had adjourned hearing till today as the PW-1 failed to conclude his testimony on that day.

Earlier on March 19 in 2023, the court framed charges against the accused. Khaleda, who is now on bail, pleaded not guilty through her lawyer Masud Ahmed Talukder on that day and demanded justice.

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.

The anti-graft body 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 Taka 13 thousand crore to state exchequer by signing that deal.

BDST: 1511 HRS, AUGUST 09, 2023
MSK