Verdict on Khaleda's challenge now Apr 5

The High Court today deferred the date for delivering verdict to April 5 on a petition filed by BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia for quashing the proceedings of Barapukuria coalmine corruption case against her.

The HC bench of Justice M Moinul Islam Chowdhury and Justice JBM Hassan for the second time deferred the date for verdict delivery after hearing a time petition.

In the petition filed by defence counsel Bodroddoza Badal, Khaleda sought time as her senior counsel Khandaker Mahbub Hossain and AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon failed to appear before the court due to their personal difficulties.

Mahbub is contesting for the post of president of Supreme Court Bar Association while Khokon contesting for the post of its secretary, he said.

Casting vote in the two-day SCBA election has started 10:00am today and it will continue till 5:00pm.

Earlier on March 5, the court fixed March 10 for delivering the judgment after hearing arguments from Khurshid Alam Khan, a counsel for the Anti-Corruption Commission, which filed the case on February 26, 2008.

Later, the court deferred the date for delivering verdict to March 15 (today) as Khaleda's lawyer Zainul Abedin prayed to the court to shift the date saying that they would place arguments on this matter.

The ACC filed the case, accusing Khaleda and 15 others of causing a loss of Tk 159 crore to the state exchequer by awarding a contract for the operation of Barapukuria coalmine to a Chinese company abusing power.