The Supreme Court yesterday cleared the way for a lower court to continue trial of the Zia Charitable Trust corruption case against BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia.

The apex court upheld a High Court order that rejected Khaleda's petition seeking stay on trial proceedings in the case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission in 2011.

In another development yesterday, the ACC moved a petition before the SC chamber judge against an HC order which stayed the proceedings in the Niko corruption case against the BNP chairperson and several others.

Last week, the HC transferred another case against Khaleda -- the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case -- to Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge's Court, and asked it to complete trial proceedings within 60 days after receiving the order.

The BNP chief is now facing 25 criminal cases, including five for corruption. Four of the five graft cases were filed during the tenure of the last caretaker government.

Trial proceedings in 14 of the 25 cases are now going on at lower courts, while the HC stayed proceedings of one case. The remaining cases are still under investigation, according to court sources.

There have been worries within the BNP that if the party chairperson gets convicted in any of the cases, she would not be able to contest the next national elections scheduled to be held in 2019.

The party leaders have said they wouldn't participate in any polls without the party chief. The BNP and several other political parties boycotted the January 5 elections in 2014, as their demand for a polls-time non-partisan government was not met.

Late last month, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said, “The countrymen will not participate in any election if Khaleda Zia is convicted in any false case.”

ZIA CHARITABLE TRUST CASE

A three-member SC bench headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha yesterday dismissed Khaleda's appeal challenging an HC order that on January 12 rejected her petition for staying trial proceedings in the case.

Khaleda's lawyer Barrister AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon told reporters that the BNP chief would move a petition before the SC, seeking review of its order.

Talking to The Daily Star, ACC lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan said that now there is no legal bar for the lower court concerned to continue trial proceedings in the case.

On August 8, 2011, the ACC filed the case with Tejgaon Police Station, accusing four people, including Khaleda, of raising funds for the trust from unknown sources through abuse of power.

The BNP chairperson filed a petition with the HC on December 6 last year, saying 32 prosecution witnesses in the case didn't take oath as per the law before their statements were recorded by Dhaka Special Judge's Court-3.

In the petition, she prayed to the HC for staying trial proceedings of the case against her and for ordering the lower court to cancel the statements given by the witnesses.

On January 12 this year, the HC rejected her petition, but asked the SC registrar general and the law secretary to ensure that the witnesses take oath before testifying at trial courts under the relevant rules.

NIKO CORRUPTION CASE

Chamber Judge Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain yesterday sent the ACC petition against the March 7 HC order to an SC full bench for holding hearing on March 16.

Earlier on March 7, the HC stayed trial proceeding of the case.

The ACC filed the case in December 2007 over charges that Khaleda and several others had abused powers to award a gas exploration and extraction deal to Canadian company Niko when she was the prime minister between 2001 and 2006.

Former law minister Moudud Ahmed, ex-state minister for energy AKM Mosharraf Hossain, former acting energy secretary Khandaker Shahidul Islam, and the then vice president (South Asia) of Niko Resources Bangladesh Ltd Kashem Sharif were also sued in the case.

ZIA ORPHANAGE TRUST CASE

The ACC filed the case on July 3, 2008 with Ramna Police Station, accusing Khaleda, her elder son Tarique Rahman and four others for misappropriating over Tk 2.10 crore that was received as grants for orphans via a foreign bank.

Of the accused, Khaleda, former BNP lawmaker Salimul Haq Kamal and businessman Sharfuddin Ahmed are on bail, while the others, including Tarique, are absconding.