Hearing on charge framing against Hashem deferred

The hearing on charge framing against former BNP lawmaker and Partex Group Chairman MA Hashem in a tax evasion case was not held as the conducting Judge Mohammad Zohurul Hoque was on leave yesterday.
Judge (In charge) Mohammad Ismail Hossain of the Senior Special Judge's Court fixed November 22 for next hearing of the case.
Hashem, now on bail from the High Court (HC), was present during yesterday's hearing.
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) filed the case with the Sessions Judge Court against Hashem, also chairman of United Commercial Bank Ltd, for evading tax on August 23.
Following the case, the court issued arrest warrant against Hashem and directed the officer-in-charge of Gulshan Police Station to submit a report on execution of the arrest warrant by September 19.
But Hashem had got anticipatory bail from the HC.
In the case statement, Kabir Uddin Mollah, deputy tax commissioner, alleged that Hashem evaded Tk 4,76 crore income tax from 1977-1978 fiscal year to 2005-2006.
He was also arrested in a case filed on May28, 2007, for his alleged involvement with syndicates behind price hikes of essentials in 2008. He was released on bail from the HC on August 4, 2008.