BSMMU Board Khaleda Zia’s report sent to apex court

The BSMMU yesterday sent a medical report of BNP Chairperson Khaleda to the Supreme Court.

The move came a day before the scheduled hearing on her bail prayer in the Zia Charitable Trust graft case.

But the BNP alleged that the government was trying to submit a different report on Khaleda’s health by changing the one prepared by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU).

Speaking at a seminar in the capital yesterday, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said they came to know that steps were being taken to submit “a different medical report in place of the one already given by the BSMMU”.

Khaleda, 73, has been undergoing treatment at the BSMMU since April 1. She is now serving a jail term in the Zia Charitable Trust graft case.

Dr Kanak Kanti Barua, vice chancellor of BSMMU, said they sent the report to the apex court around 3:30pm. The report was prepared by the medical board, headed by Dr Jilan Mia Sarkar.

Yesterday, Fakhrul further alleged that the government was trying to keep the BNP chief behind bars “illegally” which was a serious violation of human rights.

He said the BSMMU medical board in its November 30 report stated that Khaleda needed a much better treatment.

On December 5, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court deferred until December 12 the hearing on Khaleda’s bail petition. It also asked the BSMMU medical board to submit a report on her health within December 12.

The apex court issued the order after the medical board failed to produce the report on December 5 as per its previous directive issued on November 28.

Khaleda has been behind bars since February 8 last year after a special court jailed her in the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case. Later, she was found guilty of graft in another case.

However, her party claims those are politically motivated cases.

During the hearing on December 5, a group of pro-BNP lawyers created an unprecedented chaos at the Supreme Court, forcing the chief justice and five other judges to leave the courtroom.

The lawyers shouted at the apex court judges, “Shame, Shame”, “We want justice”, “Khaleda Zia has the right to get bail”. The pandemonium hampered judicial proceedings for more than an hour.

Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain termed the incident “unprecedented”.