A Dhaka court has fixed Jan 10 for the hearing to frame charges against Khaleda Zia in the GATCO corruption case.
The order came from Abu Syed Diljar, judge of special court-3 established on Aliya madrasa field in Bakshibazaar Dhaka.
Thursday (Nov 15) was stipulated for the hearing but since the other accused in the case, Tanvir Ahmed and Galib Hossain have court stay orders, Khaleda’s legal counsel Sanaullah Mia appealed the court to reschedule the date which was granted.
According to the case documents, the former prime minister stands accused of causing a loss of Tk 145.63 million to the state exchequer by awarding a container-handling job at Inland Container Depot (ICD) in Dhaka and at Chittagong Port to GATCO.
Challenging the legality of the case, Khaleda Zia, placed a writ asking for the dismissal of the case, which resulted in the case being held in limbo at the lower court for eight years.
Dismissing the writ, the high court ordered Khaleda Zia to surrender on Feb 23, 2016. After surrendering on Apr 5, 2016, Khaleda Zia, received bail.
Relevant to mention, on Sep 2, 2007, ACC’s deputy-director, Md Golam Shahriar, lodged a case against 13 people at Tejgaon thana. The list included formers ministers, M Saifur Rahman, Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, Maulana Motiur Rahman, Khaleda Zia’s younger son Coco and others.
The case now has 20 accused persons including, MK Anwar, Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, Dr Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, AKM Mosharraf Hossain and others. Of the accused, a former minister, MK Anwar has died recently.