Production warrant issued against Khaleda Zia

Staff Correspondent: A court has issued a production warrant against BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia asking her to appear before it on March 13 in the Barapukuria coalmine corruption case.

Special Judge’s Court-2 Judge ASM Ruhul Imran issued the order after hearing an Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) appeal on Tuesday.

Yesterday, the High Court ordered to dispose of the corruption case against Khaleda and 10 others within six months. On January 31, the subordinate court deferred the hearing on charge-framing in the case to February 26.

On February 26, 2008, ACC filed the case at Shahbagh Police Station accusing 16 people, including Khaleda and 10 of her former cabinet colleagues. They were accused of taking Tk 159.71 crore in kickbacks on the Barapukuria coalmine deal which was awarded to the highest bidder instead of the lowest one.

Among the accused, Motiur Rahman Nizami and Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mojaheed were executed for war crimes while former finance minister Saifur Rahman, BNP leader Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan and former Petrobangla chairman AR Osmani are dead.

The ACC pressed charges against the accused on October 5, 2008.

Responding to a petition filed by Khaleda, the HC on October 16 that year stayed the case proceedings and issued a rule asking the ACC to explain why the case should not be quashed.

The Appellate Division later upheld the stay order as well, leaving the corruption case in the cold.

Later on September 17, 2015, the HC lifted the stay order resuming the trial proceedings of the case.


risingbd/Dhaka/Feb 26, 2019/Mamun Khan/AI