Court defers charge framing against Khaleda Zia in Barapukuria graft case

A Dhaka court on Sunday deferred the hearing on charge framing in the Barapukuria coal mine graft case against BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and other accused. 

Judge Md Akhtaruzzaman of the Special Judge Court-2 in Keraniganj, Dhaka, deferred the charge frame hearing until May 28.

The hearing on charge framing in the case was fixed on Sunday. However, due to illness, the main accused, Khaleda Zia, could not appear before the court. Lawyer Masud Ahmed Talukder appeared on her behalf. 

On behalf of the other accused, lawyers appealed for time to defer the hearing. The court granted the petition and fixed the next date for hearing.

Khaleda Zia's lawyer Abdul Hannan Bhuiyan provided this information.

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on February 26, 2008, filed the graft case against Khaleda Zia and 15 others with the Shahbagh police station.

ACC Deputy Director Md Abul Kashem Fokir filed a charge sheet in the case on October 5, 2008.

They were accused of causing a loss of around Tk159 crore to the state exchequer by awarding a contract for the operation of the Barapukuria Coal Mine to a Chinese company through abuse of power.

Of the initial 16 accused, convicted war criminals Nizami and Mojaheed have been hanged, and four others have died of natural causes, and their names are expected to be dropped from the case during the framing of the charges.

Now the 10 accused are – Begum Khaleda Zia, Altaf Hossain Chowdhury, Dr Khandker Mosharraf Hossain, MK Anwar, M Shamsul Islam, Md Sirajul Islam Chowdhury, Moajjem Hossain, Nazrul Islam, Moinul Ahsan and AKM Mosharraf Hossain.