Govt files concise statement on appeal against Khaleda’s bail

The government today submitted to the Supreme Court a concise statement on an appeal against the High Court order that granted bail to BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia in a corruption case in which she was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment.

The attorney general’s office submitted the statement on behalf of the government mentioning the points on which the state counsels will place arguments on the appeal before the apex court.

Citing from the statement, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam told The Daily Star that Khaleda Zia cannot be granted bail as the lower court has sentenced her to only five years’ imprisonment considering her social status and old age.

Earlier on April 8, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed another concise statement to the SC on its appeal against the HC order of bail to Khaleda in Zia Orphanage Trust graft case.

The Appellate Division of the SC will hear the appeals on May 8.

Khaleda's lawyers are supposed to submit two separate concise statements to the SC on the same appeals in two weeks.

The SC on March 19 stayed the HC bail order following the two leave-to-appeal petitions filed by the ACC and the government.

The HC on March 12 granted Khaleda four months' bail on four grounds: a short sentence of five years, health condition, her facing trial, and that the case records have reached the court.

Khaleda landed in prison on February 8 after she was handed the five-year jail sentence by a Dhaka court for misappropriating a donation fund of the Zia Orphanage Trust.

A concise statement contains the points on which the lawyers place arguments on an appeal petition before a court.