Khaleda asked to face trial court Sept 3

A Dhaka court yesterday for the fifth time deferred until September 3 the hearing on Zia Charitable Trust and Zia Orphanage Trust graft cases against BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and eight others.
The court also asked Khaleda and four others, now on bail, to appear before it on that date. Her elder son BNP Senior Vice-Chairman Tarique Rahman is also on bail in the Orphanage Trust graft case but his lawyer represented him in his absence.   
Judge Basudev Roy of the Special Judge Court-3 passed the order after Taherul Islam Towhid, a counsel for Khaleda, submitted two petitions seeking adjournment of the hearing in the cases.
In the petitions, the defence lawyer said the Supreme Court fixed September 1 as the next date of hearing on four appeals filed by Khaleda with the Appellate Division seeking a stay on a High Court order.
ACC Deputy Director Harub-Ur Rashid, complainant of the cases, appeared before the court yesterday to give his statement.  
On April 23, an HC bench scrapped two petitions, in which the former prime minister had challenged the charge framing against her in the cases.
Later on June 19, another HC bench rejected two writ petitions filed by Khaleda questioning the legality of appointment of Bashudev Roy as judge of the Special Judge's Court-3 of Dhaka.
Roy indicted the BNP chief and eight others in the corruption cases on March 19 and she filed the petitions against Roy's appointment on May 12.
"I pray for the adjournment of the hearings as the appeals are now pending with the Supreme Court," the lawyer told the court yesterday.