Niko Graft Case: Charge framing hearing on March 8

The court has fixed 8 March to conduct the charge framing hearing against BNP chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia in Niko graft case.

Judge Sheikh Hafizur Rahman of Dhaka special court (makeshift) 9 installed in Keraniganj central jail passed the order on Tuesday.

Ailing Khaleda Zia could not appear before the court.

On behalf of her, lawyers appealed to defer the charge framing hearing as she is ill.

Granting the application, the court fixed March 8 for conducting the hearing, Khaleda Zia's lawyer Zia Uddin Zia confirmed. 

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.