Justice Hasan Imam framed the charges five months after detectives submitted the charge sheet on August 12 last year against the 17, accused of their roles in abduction and killing of Srikanta in Hathazari upazila on the night of April 19, 2003.

According to the charge sheet, the blueprint for the murder was made at the AL lawmaker's office at Agrabad in the port city of Chittagong.

The charge-framing dragged on, as the lawmaker obtained a High Court stay order in his favour while the prosecution appealed against it, prompting the tribunal to shift the date several times.

The tribunal scheduled the next hearing on the charges for January 20 and will hear 48 witnesses during the trial.

The tribunal responding to a petition allowed bail to Fazle Karim under the MP Privileges Act until January 28.

Fifteen of the accused including the lawmaker were present in court yesterday.

The main accused, Azimuddin Mahmud and his mother Elahi Zan, blamed for masterminding the murder in a bid to grab land of Srikanta's family, have been evading arrest since the incident.

Srikanta's mother Shikha Rakshit filed a case against 11 people with Kotwali Police Station and Fazle Karim and another five were named in the charge sheet later.