The Special Judge Court-3 of Dhaka yesterday adjourned till January 24 the hearing on charge-framing in the Gatco graft case as two of the accused including BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia could not appear before court due to her illness.
While fixing the next date, Judge Abu Syed Diljar Hossain of the court said all the accused must appear before the court on January 24.
The adjournment order came when Khaleda Zia’s lawyer Advocate Masud Ahmed Talukder told the court that his client could not appear before the court on Wednesday as she was ill.
Another accused BNP leader AKM Mosharraf Hossain also could not appear before the court for the same reason, his lawyer informed the court.
Earlier, the same court on January 10 had directed former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and 16 others to appear before it on January 16 for hearing on charge-framing in the case.
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed the case with Tejgaon Model Police Station on September 2, 2007 against Khaleda Zia, Galib Tanveer and several others on charges of misappropriating Tk 1,000 crore while dealing with Global Agro Trade (Private) Company Limited (Gatco).
On May 13 of 2008, the ACC framed charges against Khaleda Zia and 23 others. Meanwhile, seven of the accused, including Khaleda Zia’s son Arafat Rahman Koko, were dropped from the charge sheet following their deaths of several accused on different dates.
