Khaleda gets bail after surrender

A Dhaka court yesterday granted bail to BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia in the Niko graft case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) in 2007.

Judge Md Aminul Islam of the Special Judge Court-9 passed the order after the former prime minister, accompanied by her lawyers, surrendered before the court and sought bail.

The court also fixed December 28 for hearing on charge framing against Khaleda and 10 other accused in the case.

During the bail hearing, Khaleda's counsel Khandker Mahbub Hossain told the court that his client did not misuse the privilege of bail she was given earlier.

“She has surrendered before the court and sought bail in compliance with a High Court order. So, she should be granted bail [this time as well] for the sake of justice,” he said.

However, ACC Chief Public Prosecutor Mosharraf Hossain Kajol opposed the bail plea, saying Khaleda's previous bail had expired and she, along with others, caused a loss of Tk 13,777 crore to the state exchequer while she was in power.

Hearing from both the sides, the court granted Khaleda bail.

During the hearing, Khaleda, also the chief of the 20-party opposition combine, was allowed to sit on a chair.

She left the court premises around 12:35pm, around 15 minutes after she went there.

On her arrival on the court premises, Khaleda was welcomed by her party leaders and activists amid tight security.

Additional members of law enforcement and security agencies, deployed in and around the area, had been on alert since yesterday morning to avert any untoward situation.

The ACC filed the case with Tejgaon Police Station in December, 2007, accusing Khaleda and several others of abusing power to award a gas exploration and extraction deal to Canadian company Niko when she was PM between 2001 and 2006.

In May, 2008, the anti-graft watchdog pressed charges against Khaleda and 10 others.

Two months later, the High Court stayed the proceedings of the case following a petition by Khaleda.

On June 18 this year, the HC, following an ACC move, cleared the way for the trial proceedings to resume in the case.

It also ordered the BNP chief to surrender before the trial court within two months after a copy of the HC order reached the lower court.

Former law minister Moudud Ahmed, former state minister for energy AKM Mosharraf Hossain, former acting energy secretary Khandaker Shahidul Islam and Kashem Sharif, vice-president (South Asia) of Niko Resources Bangladesh Ltd, are among the other accused.

FAKHRUL'S BAIL

The Supreme Court yesterday upheld the High Court orders that had granted bail to BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir in three cases.

Fakhrul's lawyer Sagir Hossain Leon told The Daily Star that there was now no legal bar to his client's release from jail following the SC orders.

A four-member bench of the Appellate Division of the SC headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha passed “no order” on three government petitions filed on November 26, seeking a stay on the HC bail orders.

Following three bail petitions, the HC on November 24 had granted bail to Fakhrul for three months in the cases filed for vandalising and torching vehicles in the capital on January 4, 5 and 6.