Dhaka: The Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for a lower court to continue trial proceedings of the Gatco graft case against BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia.

The three-member bench of Appellate Division led by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha dismissed a leave to appeal filed by Khaleda Zia.

The Supreme Court concluded the hearing of the appeal on Sunday.

Earlier, on May 10, 2016, BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia filed an appeal with the Supreme Court against the High Court order that rejected her two petitions challenging the legality of the Gatco graft case and its inclusion under the Emergency Powers Act.

On August 5, 2015, the HC rejected the two writ petitions.

On September 2, 2007, the ACC filed the Gatco graft case against Khaleda Zia, her younger son Arafat Rahman Koko, Jamaate-Islami Amir Motiur Rahman Nizami and 10 others for causing a loss of Tk 145.64 crore to the national exchequer by allegedly awarding the contract of container handling at the Chittagong port and the Dhaka’s Inland Container Depot to Gatco.

Khaleda Zia on September 27, 2007 filed a petition with the HC challenging the legality of the inclusion of the case under the

Emergency Powers Act and seeking a stay order on the trial proceedings.

In 2008, an HC bench issued a rule and stayed the trial proceedings after hearing the petition of the BNP chief.

In the same year, the proceedings of the graft case were stayed again as Khaleda filed another petition challenging the legality of the case.