Niko graft case: court adjourns hearing against Khaleda, 9 others till Feb 16

A Dhaka court today adjourned the hearing against BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and nine others in Niko graft case till February 16.

Judge Sheikh Hafizur Rahman of the Special Judge's Court-9 of Dhaka passed the order after a petition was filed with the court on behalf of Khaleda Zia, seeking an adjournment of the hearing, Advocate Zia Uddin, one of her lawyers, told The Daily Star.

In the petition, the lawyer said Khaleda Zia, who is now free following an executive order from the government, is unwell and cannot leave her home due to Covid-19 pandemic. So, the hearing should be adjourned.

Advocate Masud Ahmed Talukder told the court that they would complete the hearing on behalf of Khaleda Zia on the next date of hearing.

But the prosecution opposed the petition seeking adjournment of the hearing as the defence had earlier sought 34 dates under different grounds.

The court also allowed the defence to examine on February 10 and 11 the documents seized by the investigation officer of the case during the investigation.

Among the accused, Giausuddin Al Mamun is now in jail while the rest are on bail.

During today's hearing, Giasuddin and two other accused were present at the makeshift court of Dhaka Central Jail in Keraniganj.

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed the case in December 2007, accusing Khaleda and several others of abusing power to award a gas exploration and extraction deal to Canadian company Niko when she was Prime Minister between 2001 and 2006.

One of the accused in the case -- former state minister for energy and BNP leader AKM Mosharraf Hossain -- died of coronavirus on October 17 last year.