Bangladesh top court acquits Khaleda in graft case

DHAKA, July 30 (Reuters) - Bangladesh's Supreme Court on Thursday acquitted former prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia in a corruption case involving the Canadian oil exploration firm, Niko Resources Ltd (NKO.TO), a court official said.

The country's Anti-Corruption Commission had accused Khaleda of failing to recover millions of dollars in compensation for environmental damage from a fire at a Niko-operated drilling site, in return for an unspecificed amount of money.

The fire broke out in northeast Bangladesh in 2005 when Khaleda was prime minister.

"A full bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice M. M. Ruhul Amin finally dismissed the charge upholding a similar order of the High Court passed last year," a court registrar said.

Niko representatives were not available for comments on Thursday. The company has in the past denied allegations it had acted unethically.

The case against Khaleda, now leader of the opposition, was brought by a army-backed interim government that took charge in 2007 and launched a campaign against corruption.

She was detained for nearly a year along with her rival and current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina over allegations ranging from corruption to abuse of power.

Hasina won the election held in December 2008.

(Reporting by Nizam Ahmed; Editing by Anis Ahmed and Sanjeev Miglani) ((nizamuddin.ahmed@thomsonreuters.com; +880-2-8330123; Reuters Messaging: nizamuddin.ahmed.reuters.com@reuters.net)) ((If you have a query or comment on this story, send an email to news.feedback.asia@thomsonreuters.com))