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The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has declared fugitive Zubaida Rahman, wife of BNP Acting Chairperson Tarique Rahman, in a verdict of a case related to charges of hiding wealth information.
Published : 02 Jun 2022, 12:02 AM
It means hearing her petitions until she surrenders to the court will be “illegitimate”.
The full version of the appeals verdict that upheld a High Court decision on Apr 13 to continue the case proceedings against Zubaida was published on Wednesday.
Citing the full verdict, ACC counsel Md Khurshid Alam Khan said, “It was illegitimate to hold hearings of the case without showing the accused a fugitive although they were absconding.”
“The verdict says an absconding accused cannot file a petition with the High Court in a corruption case. Zubaida Rahman will be considered fugitive from 2008.”
Zubaida, daughter of former navy chief Mahbub Ali Khan, married Tarique, son of late military ruler Ziaur Rahman and Khaleda Zia, in 1993. Zubaida joined the health cadre of Bangladesh Civil Service two years later.
Tarique was arrested during the 2007-08 military-backed caretaker government. After his release in 2008, he left Bangladesh for the UK with Zubaida and their daughter.
The government sacked Zubaida in 2014 as she did not rejoined her workplace after taking leave. The family leave in London now.
BNP Chairperson Khaleda, a former prime minister, was jailed in 2018 in two corruption cases.
Tarique has also been convicted in four cases on charges of making derogatory comments on the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, money laundering, corruption and an attempt on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s life.
In the case against Zubaida, Tarique is charged with hiding information and providing false data on his assets worth Tk 48.15 million. Zubaida and her mother Syeda Iqbal Mand Banu are accused of abetting Tarique’s alleged crimes and hiding information in this case started during the caretaker government.
The High Court issued a set of rules, staying the case proceedings following Zubaida’s petition. The court finally dismissed the petition in 2017 and ordered her to surrender.
After her lawyers’ filed a petition seeking to appeal the High Court verdict, the Appellate Division quashed the petition in April this year.
The Appellate Division has said in the full verdict that Zubaida was given “extra facilities” although everyone is equal in the eyes of the law.
Kayser Kamal, a lawyer for Zubaida and the BNP’s law affairs secretary, declined to comment on the verdict, saying he was yet to get the full version.
