DHAKA,  – A court here today adjourned the hearing on charge framing in Niko graft case against BNP chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia and others, till November 4. Today was fixed for holding the hearing, but acting judge Nazrul Islam of Dhaka 9th Special Judge Court adjourned the matter as the regular judge Sheikh Hafizur Rahman was on leave.

Earlier on September 14, the court had adjourned the hearing till today as the defence started their part of hearing but failed to conclude on that day. The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed the case against five including Begum Khaleda Zia with Tejgaon Police Station on December 9, 2007, for abusing power in signing a deal with Canadian company Niko for exploring and extracting gas.

The ACC on May 5, 2008, submitted the charge-sheet against 11 people including Khaleda Zia. The ACC accused them of incurring a loss of more than Taka 13 thousand crore of state exchequer by that deal. The other accused in the case are- Barrister Moudud Ahmed, AKM Mosharraf Hossain, Kamal Uddin Siddiqui, Khandaker Shahidul Islam, CM Eusuf Hossain, Mir Moinul Haque, Md Shafiur Rahman, Gias Uddin Al Mamun, MAH Selim and Kashem Sharif.