Court Correspondent :
The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Thursday cleared the way for the concerned subordinate court to restart the trial of Niko corruption case lodged against BNP Chief Begum Khaleda Zia, scrapping a stay on the trial.
A three-member bench of the Appellate Division led by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha
passed the order after hearing a petition from the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on Thursday.
The apex court scrapped the HC order Earlier, on March 7, the High Court (HC) stayed the trial proceedings of the case responding to a petition filed by Khaleda Zia seeking a stay on the trial proceedings of the case.
As a result, there remained no hurdle to stop the trial at the trial court, ACC lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan told the newsmen. Lawyer AJ Mohammad Ali moved the case on behalf on the BNP leader.
The former Premier is accused of corruption, along with 10 others, for awarding contracts to Niko Resources for gas exploration. The case filed by the ACC in 2008 accused them of incurring a loss of Tk 137 billion to the national exchequer by declaring three gas wells abandoned before handing them over to the Canadian firm.
The case was put on hold on July 9, 2008 after Khaleda moved a motion in the High Court. A rule was also issued asking the defendants as to why the charges should not be declared beyond legal purview and annulled. In 2016, the ACC revived the case. Then the HC stayed the legal proceedings in the case on Mar 7 of this year.
According to ACC lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan, the stay order had not come from the High Court bench assigned to handle the case. The ACC took up the matter with the Appellate Division, arguing the stay had been beyond the jurisdiction of the court.
The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Thursday cleared the way for the concerned subordinate court to restart the trial of Niko corruption case lodged against BNP Chief Begum Khaleda Zia, scrapping a stay on the trial.
A three-member bench of the Appellate Division led by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha
passed the order after hearing a petition from the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on Thursday.
The apex court scrapped the HC order Earlier, on March 7, the High Court (HC) stayed the trial proceedings of the case responding to a petition filed by Khaleda Zia seeking a stay on the trial proceedings of the case.
As a result, there remained no hurdle to stop the trial at the trial court, ACC lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan told the newsmen. Lawyer AJ Mohammad Ali moved the case on behalf on the BNP leader.
The former Premier is accused of corruption, along with 10 others, for awarding contracts to Niko Resources for gas exploration. The case filed by the ACC in 2008 accused them of incurring a loss of Tk 137 billion to the national exchequer by declaring three gas wells abandoned before handing them over to the Canadian firm.
The case was put on hold on July 9, 2008 after Khaleda moved a motion in the High Court. A rule was also issued asking the defendants as to why the charges should not be declared beyond legal purview and annulled. In 2016, the ACC revived the case. Then the HC stayed the legal proceedings in the case on Mar 7 of this year.
According to ACC lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan, the stay order had not come from the High Court bench assigned to handle the case. The ACC took up the matter with the Appellate Division, arguing the stay had been beyond the jurisdiction of the court.
