Court Reporter:

The hearing date for charge framing against Tulip Rizwana Siddiq, British Member of Parliament (MP) and niece of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, in a case involving allegations of receiving a flat in Gulshan as a “bribe,” has been deferred once again.

On Tuesday, the Dhaka Special Judge’s Court-5 fixed 11 January next year for the next hearing.

The court made the decision as the judicial proceedings against another accused in the case, former assistant legal adviser of RAJUK Sardar Mosharraf Hossain, remain stayed by the High Court.

Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed the case on 15 April last year against three individuals, including Tulip.

The case accuses them of taking a flat free of charge from Eastern Housing Limited as an “illegal gratuity.” Later, after the investigation against another accused, Shah Md Khasruzzaman, was stayed, the ACC submitted a charge sheet against Tulip and Mosharraf.

According to the case allegations, Tulip exerted influence to approve the sub-division of a plot in Gulshan, in violation of rules, for the construction and handover of 36 flats. In return, she allegedly accepted a flat from Eastern Housing free of charge.

Following the issuance of an arrest warrant against Tulip, the court had also approved an application to issue an Interpol Red Notice for her arrest.

Tulip has consistently denied all the allegations brought against her. She maintains that these cases are “false and fabricated,” asserting they were initiated out of political vendetta against Sheikh Hasina.

Earlier, a court sentenced Tulip to two years’ imprisonment in each of three cases concerning plot allotment fraud in Purbachal, amounting to a total of six years in prison.