A Dhaka court on Thursday set November 17 for the hearing on framing of charges in Barapukuria Coal Mine graft case filed against BNP chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia and others.

The hearing was supposed to take place today.

Judge AHM Ruhul Imran of Dhaka Special Judge Court-2 passed the order, accepting a time plea from the main accused – Begum Khaleda Zia’s counsel Advocate Masud Ahmed Talukder.

Khaleda was not present before the court due to illness, said her lawyer. 

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

They were accused of causing a loss of Tk 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 have already died and their names are expected to be dropped from the case during framing of the charges.

Khaleda is in jail since February 8, 2018, the day she was convicted in a graft case. She was shifted to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Hospital on April 1, 2019 and has been undergoing treatment there since then.

On march 25 this year, Khaleda’s sentence has been suspended for six months and currently she is staying in her Gulshan house.

BDST: 1400 HRS, SEP 17, 2020
AP/SMS