The New Nation - Internet Edition

Bdnews24.com, Dhaka

The Supreme Court yesterday upheld High Court orders that froze proceedings of two cases against former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, charging her with corruption in the setting up of power plants and a gas exploration deal with Niko.

A five-strong Appellate Division bench led by chief justice MM Ruhul Amin also instructed both the parties to take initiatives for the quick disposal of two petitions filed by Hasina with the High Court challenging the two cases against her.

The order confirms a halt on the proceedings of the two cases in the trial court, lawyers said.

Sheikh Hasina's lawyer, Barrister Shafique Ahmed told reporters after the order that the Appellate Division denied the government's leave to appeal against the High Court stay orders.

"To resolve the government appeal, the Supreme Court instructed both parties to take steps for the speedy hearing of the writs under trial in the High Court. Once we get the copy of the Appellate Division order, we will take initiative for hearing of the writs," Barrister Ahmed said.

On July 7, the High Court stayed for two months the court proceedings of the two cases involving barge-mounted power plant and Niko graft charges against Sheikh Hasina.

During the hearing at the Appellate Division, Sheikh Hasina's counsel Barrister Rafique-ul-Haque said due process was followed in these two cases.

"For any cases filed by Anticorruption Commission it is mandatory to take approval in three phases. This approval should be taken while filing the case, during charge-framing and when the trail court takes the case into cognizance. But in these two cases, the relevant clause of the law had not been followed," he said.

Attorney General Salah Uddin Ahmed told the court that the two cases were duly approved. "The Anticorruption Commission approved the cases before filing the case and also while framing charges. No law has been violated in this respect."

The ACC on Sept 2, 2007, filed a case against Sheikh Hasina and six others with Tejgaon Police Station on charges of taking Tk 3 crore in bribes for awarding the work of installing three barge-mounted power plants.

On Sept 20, the government transferred the case under emergency powers rules. Charges were pressed on Jan 11.

The Anticorruption Commission filed the Niko graft case accusing seven, including Sheikh Hasina, on Dec 9 last year.

It has been alleged in the case that the accused caused losses of Tk 13630.50 crore to the state by offering three gas fields-Chhatak, Kamta and Feni - to Niko, a Canadian company, through unsolicited bid. The ACC later pressed charges against nine people, including Sheikh Hasina, in this case.