HC bench refuses to hear Khaleda’s plea over court shifting

A High Court bench today refused to hear a writ petition filed by BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia challenging legality of a government notification that said Niko corruption case trial against her will be held at a special court in Keraniganj Central Jail.

The bench of Justice Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury and Justice Md Ashraful Kamal removed the petition from its hearing list after Anti-Corruption Commission’s lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan told the court that it has no jurisdiction to hear any petition involving the commission.

The ACC lawyer also informed the HC bench that there are two specific HC benches for hearing the matters relating to the ACC, and the petitioner’s (Khaleda) lawyers did not place the petition to those specific benches.

He added Khaleda filed the writ petition on May 26 challenging the government notification that transferred the Niko graft case, which was filed by the ACC, to a special court in Keraniganj Central Jail.

Earlier in the day, Barrister Moudud Ahmed, Advocate AJ Mohammad Ali and Barrister Kayser Kamal placed the petition before this bench for its hearing.     

On May 13, the law ministry issued a gazette notification, saying that trials of 17 cases, including the Niko graft case, against the BNP chairperson will be held at a special court set up at building-2 in Keraniganj jail for security reasons.

Trial of Niko graft case was being held at a special court set up inside the Old Dhaka central jail while trials of the 16 other cases were taking place at a makeshift court at Government Alia Madrasa in Bakshibazar.

Khaleda landed in jail on February 8 last year after a Dhaka court sentenced her to five years’ imprisonment in Zia Orphanage Trust graft case.