Charge framing hearing deferred for 20th time
A Dhaka court yesterday deferred for the 20th times the hearing on charge framing against Arafat Rahman Koko, son of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, in a tax evasion case.
The court fixed November 20 for the hearing.
Judge Mohammad Zohurul Haque of the Senior Special Judge's Court extended the time following a time petition submitted by Koko's lawyer Zainul Abedin Meshbah.
In his petition, Meshbah said he could not bring any order on the rule issued earlier from the High Court (HC) following a writ challenging the legality of the case.
The HC issued a rule upon the government on June 9 last year to explain why the proceedings of the case should not be declared illegal.
He prayed for an adjournment of the hearing on charge framing as hearing on the rule is still pending with the HC, Meshbah added.
The court asked the defence to submit an order on the rule from the HC by the scheduled date otherwise charge will be framed against the accused. The court on September 8 gave the defence time till yesterday for submitting an HC order on the issue.
The National Board of Revenue filed the case against Koko on March 1 last year for evading tax on his income of Tk 52.39 lakh for fiscal years from 2002-2003 to 2006-2007.
Judge Mohammad Mozammel Hossain of the Special Judge's Court-3 on June 23 sentenced Koko to six years' imprisonment in absentia and fined Tk 38.83 crore in a money laundering case.
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