The New Nation - Internet Edition

UNB, Dhaka

Hearing on the bail petition made in the High Court by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in an extortion case filed by businessman Noor Ali will take place tomorrow.

A vacation bench of the High Court comprising Justice Sheik Rezowan Ali and Justice M Rais Uddin fixed the date, updating the cause list as Hasina's counsel Barrister Fazle Noor Tapas prayed for it.

On July 30 last year, Hasina was shown arrested in a Tk 5-crore extortion case filed over a decade-old power-plant deal by the managing director of Unique Group of companies on June 13.

Noor Ali accused Hasina, her cousin and former Awami League MP Sheikh Helal and his wife Rupa Chowdhury of taking Tk 5 crore in bribe for allowing his company to set up a power plant. According to the prosecution, the investigation of the case is on.

Meanwhile, two more petitions seeking bail in the remaining two other graft cases faced by Hasina involving gas-exploration contract with Canadian company Niko and barge-mounted power plant deal were filed today (Monday) with another bench of Justice AKM Fazlur Rahman and Sheikh Abdul Awal.

The two bail petitions will come up on the cause list on Wednesday, court sources said.

As Awami League president Sheikh Hasina, now abroad on parole for treatment, needs bail in these three cases for her release from incarceration since July 16 last year through legal process, the counsel for Hasina took the last-ditch initiative.