Hearing deferred

A Dhaka court yesterday deferred the hearing on charge framing against former BNP lawmaker and Partex Group chairman MA Hashem till March 30 in connection with a tax evasion case.
Judge Mohammad Zohurul Haque of the Senior Special Judge's Court passed the order after Hashem's lawyer submitted a time petition on ground that his client would clear all the income tax mentioned in the case by March 30.
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) on August 23 last year filed the case against Hashem for evading tax of Tk 47.6 crore from 1977-1978 to 2005-2006 fiscal years.
The court also ordered that if the accused fails to comply or pay off the income tax, charge will be framed against Hashem on that day.
Meanwhile, the same court granted bail to Aziz Al Mahmud, a son of Hashem and one of the directors of Partex Beverage Ltd, in connection with another tax evasion case.
The NBR on February 27 filed the case against nine people including Hashem, his wife, his five sons, and two officials of the company, for dodging Tk 232.91 crore in income tax for the fiscal years of 2005-2006 to 2007-2008.
The same court on February 20 issued an arrest warrant against Hashem canceling his bail in the case, as he had gone abroad for treatment without permission.
On February 28, Hashem got bail in the case upon surrender.
In the case statement, NBR Deputy Tax Commissioner Kabir Uddin Mollah said Hashem evaded Tk 4,76,09,845 in income tax on Tk 18,93,42,380 earned from different sources.
He repeatedly provided false information about his income and expenditure, the statement said.