BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia today moved the High Court challenging a lower court order that framed charges against her and seven others in Niko corruption case.

She submitted a revision petition to the HC through her lawyer Kayser Kamal, praying to the court to scrap the trial court order, saying that the charges were "illegally".

Kayser Kamal told The Daily Star that the hearing of the revision petition of the BNP chairperson will be held at the HC following " due process".

The lawyer, however, refused to give details about the grounds cited in the petition on which the HC may consider the prayer.

Meanwhile, Anti-Corruption Commission's lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan told this correspondent that they will oppose the petition of Khaleda when the HC holds hearing on it.

Khaleda Zia had earlier moved the HC challenging the trial proceedings of Niko corruption case on different grounds, but the HC rejected her petition and cleared the way for the lower court to run the trial proceedings, he added.

On March 19 this year, a Dhaka court framed charges against Khaleda and seven others in the case and scheduled May 23 to begin trial.

The Anti-Corruption Commission filed the case on December 9, 2007, accusing Khaleda and several others of abusing power to award a gas exploration and extraction deal to Canadian company Niko when she was prime minister between 2001 and 2006.

After an investigation, the ACC pressed charges against Khaleda and 10 others on May 5, 2008. The charge sheet accused them of causing a loss of Tk 13,777 crore to the state exchequer through the deal.

Three of the accused in the case -- including former state minister for energy and BNP leader AKM Mosharraf Hossain and former law minister Moudud Ahmed -- passed away earlier. Their names were dropped from the charge sheet.

Khaleda Zia, who stands as accused in 33 other cases, was earlier convicted in two other cases, including the Zia Orphanage Trust Graft case, with different jail terms.

Khaleda has been receiving treatment at her Gulshan home since she had gotten out of jail, following an executive order from the government.