A Dhaka Court yesterday adjourned the trial proceedings of the MiG-29 warplane purchase scam case against former premier Sheikh Hasina and five others till October 21.
Judge Golam Mortuza Majumder of the Special Judge's Court, Dhaka Division, located on the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban premises, adjourned the proceedings upon receiving the copy of the High Court order that had stayed the case proceedings.
On September 18, the HC stayed for three months the trial proceedings of the case filed during the BNP-led four-party alliance rule.
As the court sat yesterday morning, the defence councils submitted the stay order copy. The court then fixed the date.
Hasina's counsel advocate Sahara Khatun represented her as she was spared from appearing at the court hearings in person on June 9.
The other accused in the case are former air force chief Jamaluddin Ahmed, former defence secretary Syed Yusuf Hossain, Air Commodore (retd) Mirza Akhter Maruf, former joint secretary Mohammad Hossain Serniabat, and Unique Group Managing Director Nur Ali.
Former army chief Gen (retd) Mustafizur Rahman was also an accused, but the court dropped his name on August 12 after his death on August 3.
The now-defunct Bureau of Anti-Corruption filed the case with Tejgaon Police Station on December 11, 2001, stating that the accused caused a loss of Tk 700 crore to the state exchequer by purchasing eight MiG-29 jet fighters when the Awami League was in power.
Meantime, former health minister Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim yesterday submitted the bail bond to the trial court in the Tk 2.99 crore extortion case filed by businessman Azam J Chowdhury.
Chowdhury, Managing Director of Eastcoast Trading Pvt Ltd, filed the case with Gulshan Police Station against former premier Sheikh Hasina and her cousin Sheikh Selim on June 13 last year on charge of extorting Tk 2.99 crore from him in exchange for awarding a contract to set up Siddhirganj Power Plant.