BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has moved the High Court seeking fresh plaintiff testimonies in the Zia Charitable Trust and Zia Orphanage Trust graft cases.
Published : 15 Jun 2015, 12:57 PM
The petition filed on Monday also seeks a rule on the matter and pleads for freezing the case proceedings until it’s resolved.
The matter was included in Monday’s cause-list at the bench of Justices Md Moinul Islam Chowdhury and JBM Hassan. But it was deferred as the BNP chief's lawyers pleaded for more time.
The graft cases against the former prime minister is being held at Dhaka’s Third Special Judge’s Court, which has already recorded testimony of the plaintiff in one of the cases filed by the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC).
The court heard the plaintiff’s testimony in absence of Khaleda Zia as she had skipped several hearings.
On May 25, the court rejected a plea by Khaleda’s lawyers to scrap the testimony and set Jun 18 for the next hearing. The BNP chief’s lawyers moved the High Court against the trial court’s order.
The petition seeks fresh plaintiff testifying in presence of the BNP chief. The ACC and the government have been made a party of the petition.
“The court recorded plaintiff’s testimony on five hearing dates in absence of Khaleda Zia, where the rule is to hold it in presence of the defendant.
On May 25, the trial court rejected Khaleda's plea for a fresh testimony.
"That’s why we moved the High Court,” lawyer Ehsanur Rahman, who filed the petition on behalf of the former prime minister, told bdnews24.com on Monday.