The indictment hearing against incarcerated BNP chief Khaleda Zia and 10 others have been deferred till Jul 14.

Judge Sheikh Hafizur Rahman of Dhaka-9 special judge court gave the order on Sunday (Jun 23), defense counsel Hannan Bhuiyan told Bangla Tribune.

The hearing was supposed to be held on Sunday but the jail authorities couldn’t produce Khaleda Zia before the court as she is undergoing treatment at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), he added.

On Dec 9, 2007, graft watchdog ACC filed the graft case with Tejgaon police accusing Khaleda and 10 others of abusing power by awarding a gas exploration and extraction deal to Canadian company, NIKO, during her time in office as prime minister.

The commission submitted the charge sheet against the accused on May 5, 2008.

The 11 people stand accused of causing the State a loss of Tk 137.77 billion in a non-transparent, corrupted contract with NIKO during the BNP regime.

Others accused in the case are former law minister Moudud Ahmed, former state minister for energy AKM Mosharraf Hossain, former acting energy secretary Khandaker Shahidul Islam, and Kashem Sharif, vice-president (South Asia) of NIKO Resources Bangladesh Ltd.

A three-time prime minister Khaleda is already serving a 17-year time for her involvement in the Zia Orphanage Trust and Zia Charitable Trust graft cases.