A Dhaka court have adjourned until May 30 the hearing on charge framing in Niko graft case against Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia and others.

Judge Sheikh Hafizur Rahman of Dhaka 9th special judge court passed the order on Sunday (May 19).

The hearing on charge framing was set to be held today, but the jail authorities could not produce Khaleda Zia before the court as she is undergoing treatment at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU).

In December 2007, the ACC filed the case accusing the 11 people of misusing power to grant a gas deal to Canadian company Niko, when Khaleda was the prime minister of Bangladesh between 2001 and 2006.

On May 5, 2008, the anti-graft watchdog submitted charge sheet against Khaleda and 10 others in the graft case.

The anti-corruption body accused them of incurring a loss of more than Tk 137 billion of state exchequer by that deal.

Khaleda is now behind the bar after being convicted in Zia Orphanage Trust graft case on 8 February 2018.

She was sentenced to five-year imprisonment, which later enhanced to 10 by the High Court.