Hearing on Khaleda's challenges adjourned again till May 13

The High Court yesterday adjourned for six more days the hearing on the seven-year-old petitions filed by BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia challenging the legality of Niko, Gatco and Barapukuria coalmine corruption cases.

It fixed May 13 for resuming the hearing. 

Yesterday, Khaleda's lawyer Raghib Rauf Chowdhury placed the charge sheet of the Gatco case and also started reading out the first information report (FIR) of Barapukuria case. Earlier, he placed the FIR and charge sheet of Niko case before it.

The Anti-Corruption Commission filed the Niko case in 2007 accusing Khaleda and four others of abusing power to award a gas exploration and extraction deal to Canadian company Niko during BNP-led government's tenure.

The Gatco graft case was filed the same year against the BNP chief and 12 others on charges of corruption in awarding Global Agro Trade (Pvt) Co Ltd (Gatco) a contract for container management at inland container depots in Dhaka and Chittagong.

The ACC on February 26, 2008 filed the case accusing Khaleda and several others of causing a loss of Tk 159 crore to the state exchequer by awarding a contract for operating Barapukuria coalmine to a Chinese company through abuse of power.

Following the writ petitions in 2008, the HC stayed the case proceedings and issued rules on the government and ACC to explain why the cases against her should not be scrapped.