A September10, 2015 file photo shows BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia appears before the Dhaka Special Judge’s Court-3.
The Dhaka Special Judge’s Court-3 on Tuesday asked the Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairperson, Khaleda Zia, and 12 others to appear before the court on April 13 in GATCO graft case.
The judge, Md Abu Ahmed Jamadar, passed the order saying the case will proceed in this court.
Anti-Corruption Commission lawyer Mosharaf Hossain Kajal said the full text High Court verdict over the case reached to the trial court on February 16 and accordingly a hearing was performed.
Earlier, according to the High Court order, the former prime minister will have to surrender before the trial court within two months in the GATCO graft case as the High Court has released the full text of its verdict rejecting her two writ petitions.
The High Court on February 15 released the full text of its verdict rejecting the two petitions filed by the BNP chief challenging the legality of the graft case and its inclusion under the Emergency Powers Act.
On August 5 last year, an HC bench comprising of Justice Md Nuruzzaman and Justice Abdur Rob rejected the two writ petitions. The bench had also asked Khaleda Zia to surrender before the lower court in two months.
On September 2, 2007, the Anti-Corruption Commission had filed the GATCO graft case against Khaleda and 12 others for causing a loss of Tk 145.64 crore to the national exchequer by allegedly awarding the contract of container handling at the Chittagong port and the Dhaka’s Inland Container Depot to GATCO.
Khaleda on September 27, 2007 had filed a petition with the HC challenging the legality of the inclusion of the case under the Emergency Powers Act and seeking a stay order on the trial proceedings.
In 2008, an HC bench issued a rule and stayed the trial proceedings after hearing the petition of the BNP chief.
In the same year, the proceedings of the graft case were stayed again as Khaleda filed another petition challenging the legality of the case.
Source: New Age
