Staff Reporter :
The High Court (HC) has rejected the petition filed by BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia challenging the legality of Niko graft case against her. The court passed the order for trial of the BNP chief in the case, filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) against her and four others.
A HC bench comprising Justice Md Nuruzzaman and Justice Zafar Ahmed passed the order on Thursday.
Quashing the stay order on the case, the HC bench directed the former prime minister to surrender to the lower court within two months of receiving the HC’s order. The court also asked the lower court to consider granting bail to Khaleda Zia after she surrenders.
ACC lawyer M Khurshed Alam Khan told reporters that as the HC rejected the petition, now there is no legal bar to hold the trial of the case in the lower court.
Earlier on Wednesday, the HC bench fixed Thursday for delivering the order. On May 28, the HC bench concluded the hearing on the petition.
The ACC on December 9 in 2007 filed the Niko graft case with Tejgaon Police Station against Khaleda Zia and four others in connection with a loss of Tk 137 billion to the national exchequer by awarding gas exploration job to Canadian company — Niko — during the previous BNP regime.
Former law minister Barrister Moudud Ahmed, former state minister for energy AKM Mosharraf Hossain, former acting energy secretary Khandaker Shahidul Islam and vice-president (South Asia) of Niko Resources Bangladesh Ltd Kashem Sharif were also sued in the case.
Later on May 5 in 2008, the ACC submitted charge sheet against 11 people.
Following the writ petition by the BNP chief, the HC stayed the case on July 9 in 2008. It also issued a rule upon the ACC and the government to explain as to why the case proceedings against her should not be declared illegal.
Later, Khaleda Zia filed three other petitions in 2008 challenging the legality of the proceedings of the Barapukuria coalmine and Gatco corruption cases.
On April 22 this year, the HC started a hearing on a seven-year-old writ petition. On April 7, Chief Justice SK Sinha assigned the bench to deal with Niko, Gatco and Barapukura coalmine graft cases.
The order on hearing in the Barapukura coalmine graft case was set to be delivered on April 5.
On April 2, Khaleda Zia submitted four petitions to the chief justice through her lawyers, seeking transfer of the cases to another bench. Later, respective benches sent the cases to the chief justice for a decision.
