Khaleda hearing deferred again

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court been deferred yet again a hearing on two petitions filed by Khaleda Zia, questioning the legality of the appointment of a judge who indicted the BNP chief in two graft cases.

A five-member bench headed by Chief Justice Md Muzammel Hossain on Monday set July 24 to hear the petitions rejected by the High Court (HC).

The hearing scheduled for Monday was deferred when Khaleda's lawyer told the court they were yet to get copies of the High Court order.

Khaleda’s counsel AJ Mohammad Ali was present in the court. Attorney General Mahbubey Alam represented the state.

Md Khurshid Alam Khan was present on behalf of the Anti-Corruption Commission that filed the cases.

Khaleda Zia filed a plea to the Appellate Division, seeking a stay on trial proceedings of the ‘Zia Orphanage Trust’ and ‘Zia Charitable Trust’ cases following the HC rule.

Her lawyers sought time to file a leave to appeal on receipt of the HC rule and the Appellate Division set July 21 as the new date.

The former prime minister had moved High Court, challenging the indictment but it dismissed her plea.

She filed two appeals against the dismissal.

Khaleda, on May 12, challenged the legality of the appointment of Judge Basudeb Roy, who indicted her in the ‘Zia Orphanage Trust’ and ‘Zia Charitable Trust’ graft cases on Mar 19.

She also sought a stay on the case proceedings.

On May 25, an HC bench of Justices Farah Mahbub and Kazi Md Ejarul Haque Akondo delivered a split verdict on the plea regarding the legality of the judge’s appointment.

Justice Farah Mahbub issued a ruling and ordered a freeze on the proceedings of the cases, while Justice Kazi Md Ejarul Haque Akondo wanted to scrap the petitions.

As per rule, the matter was forwarded to the chief justice who assigned Justice Quazi Reza-Ul Hoque’s bench to hear the pleas.

The bench also dismissed the pleas on June 19.

The Anti-Corruption Commission in 2008 filed a case against six, including Khaleda and her son Tarique Rahman, for allegedly siphoning off Tk 21 million from the ‘Zia Orphanage Trust’ funds, which reportedly came from a foreign bank.

Charges were pressed against them two years later.

In 2011, the ACC accused the BNP chief and three others of misappropriating Tk 31.5 million from the ‘Zia Charitable Trust’.

The national anti-graft agency prosecuted the four in a charge-sheet in 2012.