High Court fixes Sunday for order on former PM Khaleda’s bail appeal in graft case

The High Court will decide on Sunday on whether to grant bail to BNP chief and former prime minister Khaleda Zia in a graft case.

On Thursday, Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Shahidul Karim put it on Sunday’s agenda after defence counsels brought the court’s attention to the matter.

Khaleda has been in jail since Feb 8, when a Dhaka court convicted her of misusing international donations meant for an orphanage.

The court sentenced the BNP chief to five years in prison and slapped a fine of Tk 21.07 million.

Ten days later, Khaleda’s attorneys moved the High Court to appeal against the decision and bail after a certified copy of the trial court’s verdict was available.

The court said then it will hear the appeal and stayed the fine.

But it kept the order on bail pending and instructed the trial court to forward the case documents by 15 days.

On Thursday, Khaleda’s counsel Jainul Abedin told the court that the 15-day deadline has expired the previous day. “It’s the 16th day.”

The court asked, “We had ordered on Feb 22 to send it within 15 days. Did the documents come in?”

Abedin replied he had no update on the documents and pleaded the court to schedule the hearing for the bail petition.

The court then scheduled Sunday to hear the matter.

On Wednesday, the clerk of Dhaka Fifth Special Judge’s Court, where Khaleda was tried, told bdnews24.com that the documents tied to the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case are expected to reach the High Court on Sunday.