Zia Orphanage case: Hearing on 4 pleas Tuesday

The High Court today fixed Tuesday, July 3, for hearing four separate appeals in connection to Zia Orphanage Trust graft case in which BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has been sentenced to five years’ imprisonment.

Of the four pleas, one was filed by Khaleda Zia seeking acquittal, a revision petition filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) seeking enhancement of Khaleda’s jail sentence, and two others filed by convicts QaziSaleemulHuq alias Qazi Kamal and Sharfuddin Ahmed seeking acquittal.

The HC bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Md Mostafizur Rahman fixed the date after the appeals of ACC, Saleemul and Sharfudin were included in its today’s cause list for order.

The same HC bench had earlier fixed Tuesday, July 3 for hearing the appeal of Khaleda challenging the lower court verdict on her in this case.

Today, the HC bench said all the appeals of Khaleda, ACC, Saleemul and Sharfudin will be heard analogously.

Following an application submitted by the ACC, Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain on Thursday asked the HC bench led by Justice Enayetur Rahim to hold hearing on the appeals of ACC, Salemul and Sharfuddin analogously.

The HC bench led by Justice Enayetur Rahim, on March 12, granted four months’ bail to Khaleda in this case, accepted the appeals of Khaleda, Saleemul and Sharfuddin for their hearing and stayed their fines.  

Following ACC’s petition, the HC, on March 28, issued a rule asking Khaleda and the government to explain why her jail sentence in Zia Orphanage Trust graft case should not be extended.

On February 8, the Special Judge’s Court-5 of Dhaka sentenced Khaleda to five years’ rigorous imprisonment after finding her guilty in the graft case.

The court also jailed her elder son Tarique Rahman, now the acting chairman of BNP, and four others for 10 years and fined them Tk 2.1 crore, saying all six convicts would have to pay the fine in equal amounts.

The four other convicts are: Qazi Saleemul Huq, an ex-BNP MP from Magura, Sharfuddin Ahmed, a businessman, Mominur Rahman, a cousin of Tariquea nd Kamal Uddin Siddique, former principal secretary.

Of them, Mominur and Kamal are on the run while Saleemul and Sharfuddin were sent to jail on February 8. The sentence of the fugitives will be effective from the day of their arrest or surrender.

The ACC filed the case with Ramna Police in July 2008, accusing the six of misappropriating over Tk 2.1 crore that came from a foreign bank as grants for orphans.