Dhaka – The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Thursday cleared the way for the concerned subordinate court to restart the trial of Niko corruption case lodged against BNP Chief Begum Khaleda Zia, scrapping a stay on the trial by the High Court.A three-member bench led of Appellate Division led Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha gave the order after hearing a petition from the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) on Thursday.
The apex court scrapped the HC rule asking as to why the case should not be dismissed. Earlier, on March 7, the High Court (HC) stayed the trial proceedings of the case responding to a petition filed by Khaleda Zia seeking a stay on the trial proceedings of the case.
As a result there remains no hurdle to stop the trial at the trial court, ACC lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan told the newsmen. Lawyer AJ Mohammad Ali moved the case at the court on behalf on the BNP leader.
The former Premier is accused of corruption, along with ten others, for awarding contracts to Niko Resources for gas exploration. The case filed by the ACC in 2008 accused them of incurring a loss of Tk 137 billion to the national exchequer by declaring three gas wells 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 was also issued asking the defendants as to why the charges should not declared beyond legal purview and annulled. In 2016, the ACC revived the case. Then the HC stayed the legal proceedings in the 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. – Special Correspondent
