A Dhaka court yesterday asked the BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and 10 others to appear before it on February 4 in connection with the Niko graft case.
Judge Mahmudul Hassan of the Special Judge Court-9 of Dhaka passed the order.
The BNP chief could not appear before the court due to physical illness, said her lawyer Sanaullah Mia.
A total of 14 cases, including the Niko graft case, were shifted to the makeshift court set up in the city's Bakshibazar area.
The hearing of the Niko graft case was held yesterday for the first time in the makeshift court building. The trial of the Zia Orphanage graft case and Zia Charitable graft case are also going on in the same building.
Public Prosecutor Mosharraf Hossain Kajal, also lawyer for Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), filed a petition seeking arrest warrant against Moudud Ahmed, an accused in the case for being absent during yesterday's hearing.
The ACC filed the case with Tejgaon Police Station in December, 2007 accusing the then prime minister Khaleda and several others for abusing power to give a gas exploration and extraction deal to Canadian company Niko between 2001 and 2006.
AKM Mosharraf Hossain, former state minister for energy, Khandaker Shahidul Islam, former acting energy secretary, and Kashem Sharif, vice-president (South Asia) of Niko Resources Bangladesh Ltd, are among the other accused.
In May, 2008, the anti-graft watchdog pressed charges against Khaleda and 10 others.
