Indictment hearing in Barapukuria Coalmine graft case against BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda and others got deferred again as a Dhaka court on Monday set November 12 for the matter, reports BSS.
Monday was fixed for holding hearing on the matter, but Judge AHM Ruhul Imran of Dhaka Special Judge Court had to reset the date as the jail authorities could not produce prime accused Begum Khaleda Zia before the temporary court raised in newly constructed building in front of Keraniganj Central Jail.
Khaleda is now undergoing treatment at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) Hospital. The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on February 26, 2008, filed the graft case against Khaleda Zia and 15 others with Shahbagh Police Station in the capital.
They were accused of causing a loss of Taka 159 crore to the state exchequer by awarding a contract for operation of Barapukuria Coalmine to a Chinese company through abuse of power.
Of the 16 accused, six are already dead and their names are expected to be dropped from the case while framing of the charges. The High Court on February 25, 2019, ordered the lower court concerned to dispose of the case within six months. A High Court division bench comprising Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice KM Hafizul Alam passed the order, binning a plea filed by one of the accused and BNP leader Barrister Aminul Haque to quash the charges.
