SC clears way for Niko graft case against Khaleda Zia

The Appellate Division has cleared the way for the Niko corruption case against BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, scrapping a stay on the trial granted by the High Court.

A three-member appeals bench led by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha gave the order after hearing a petition from the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on Thursday.

The appeals court also scrapped the HC rule asking why the case should not be dismissed.

There are no longer any hurdles to stop the trial at the judicial court, ACC lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan told bdnews24.com.

Lawyer AJ Mohammad Ali represented Khaleda Zia at the hearing.

The former prime minister is accused of corruption, along with ten others, for awarding contracts to Niko Resources for gas exploration.

The case filed by the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) in 2008 accused them of incurring a loss of Tk 137 billion to the state exchequer by claiming three gas wells were abandoned before handing them over to the Canadian firm.

The case was put on hold on Jul 9, 2008 after Khaleda moved a motion in the High Court. A rule too was issued asking defendants why the charges should not declared beyond legal purview and annulled.

Last year, the ACC revived the case.

The High Court then put a stop to the legal proceedings in the Niko case on Mar 7 of this year.

According to ACC lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan, the stay order had not come from the High Court bench assigned to handle the case. The ACC took up the matter with the Appellate Division, arguing the stay had been outside the jurisdiction of the court.

“The court took our argument into consideration and scrapped the stay and the rule,”  Khan said.