SC okays trial proceedings against Khaleda
The Supreme Court yesterday cleared the way for a lower court to run the trial proceedings against BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia in Gatco corruption case.
A four-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha dismissed two leave-to appeal petitions filed by Khaleda seeking stay on the trial proceeding.
Khaleda filed the petitions on May 10 last year, also challenging a High Court verdict that rejected her two writ petitions against the initiation and continuation of the case.
Yesterday, the apex court said the leave-to appeal petitions filed by Khaleda are not acceptable as she had filed the petitions with the High Court instead of filing them under the code of criminal procedure.
Anti-Corruption Commission's lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan told The Daily Star that trial proceeding against Khaleda in the Gatco graft case will run in the Special Judges' Court-3 of Dhaka. The ACC lawyer, however, said Khaleda will remain on bail in the case.
On August 5, 2015, the HC rejected the writ petitions filed by Khaleda challenging continuation of the case.
On September 2, 2007, the ACC lodged the Gatco case against Khaleda, her youngest son late Arafat Rahman Koko, Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Motiur Rahman Nizami and 10 others.
According to the case statement, there was corruption in the awarding of a contract to Global Agro Trade (Pvt) Company Ltd (Gatco) for container management at inland depots in Dhaka and Chittagong. The graft allegedly cost the state exchequer over Tk 1,000 crore.
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