Hashem's case adjourned till Feb 20

A Dhaka court yesterday deferred the hearing on charge framing against former BNP lawmaker and Partex Group Chairman MA Hashem till February 20 in connection with a tax evasion case.
Judge Mohammad Zohurul Hoque of the Senior Special Judge's Court passed the order after Hashem's lawyer submitted a time petition seeking adjournment of the hearing.
Hashem was not present in the court as his sister died on Saturday.
The National Board of Revenue on August 23 last year filed the case with the Sessions Judge Court against Hashem, also chairman of United Commercial Bank Ltd, for evading tax.
Following the case, the court issued an 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 High Court.
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 May 28 in 2007 for his alleged involvement with syndicates behind price hike of essentials. He was released on bail from the HC on August 4 in 2008.