Khaleda's Sentence: HC defers hearing on 4 appeals till July 8

The High Court yesterday deferred until July 8 the hearing on four appeals in the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case in which BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia was sentenced to five years' imprisonment.

The HC bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Md Mostafizur Rahman fixed July 8 for starting the hearing on the appeals. The bench was scheduled to start the hearing yesterday.

It passed the deferment order after Khaleda had filed a petition seeking adjournment of the hearing.

In the petition, the BNP chief said she had earlier submitted a petition to the Supreme Court seeking review of its May 16 order that asked the HC bench to hear and dispose of her appeal in the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case by July 31.

The review petition is pending with the SC's Appellate Division and if the HC now hears her appeal, she might be prejudiced, Khaleda said in the application.

Khaleda's lawyer AJ Mohammad Ali moved the adjournment application, while Anti-Corruption Commission's lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan opposed the application and prayed to the HC bench to start hearing the appeals.

Of the four pleas, one was filed by Khaleda seeking acquittal of the charges, a revision petition was filed by the ACC seeking an increase in Khaleda's jail term and two other appeals were filed by convicts -- Qazi Saleemul Huq alias Qazi Kamal and Sharfuddin Ahmed -- seeking their acquittal of the charges.

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 filed by the ACC.

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.