The High Court today accepted the appeal for its hearing filed by former BNP lawmaker Kazi Salimul Haque challenging the lower court order that convicted and sentenced him to 10 years’ imprisonment in the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case.

The HC also stayed the lower court order that fined him in the same case.

The HC bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Shahidul Karim passed the order during the pre-set hearing of the appeal.

The court will hold the hearing of the appeal later on.

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Khaleda lands in jail

Advocate Palash Chandra Roy, lawyer for Salimul, told The Daily Star that Salimul will file a petition with the HC seeking bail in the case.

Yesterday, Salimul, now in jail, submitted the appeal to the office concerned of the HC through his lawyer praying to it (HC) to acquit him of the corruption charge and to scrap the trial court verdict against him.  

On February 8, Special Judge’s Court-5 in Dhaka sentenced Khaleda to five years’ rigorous imprisonment after it had found her and five others including Salimul guilty in the case.

The court also sentenced Khaleda's elder son Tarique Rahman, now the acting chairman of BNP, Salimul and three others to 10 years' rigorous imprisonment each, and fined them a total of Tk 2.10 crore, saying that all the six convicts have to pay the fine in equal amounts.

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) had filed the case with Ramna Police Station in July 2008, accusing the six of misappropriating over Tk 2.1 crore that came from a foreign bank as grants for orphans.