Khaleda’s graft case appeal: SC re-fixes date for early hearing
Khaleda’s graft case appeal: SC re-fixes date for early hearing
The Supreme Court today fixed November 6 for hearing the appeal against a High Court verdict that had rejected a petition of BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia challenging charge framing order against her and eight others in Zia Orphanage Trust Corruption case.
A five-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Md Muzammel Hossain set the new date in response to a petition filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) with a pray for early hearing the appeal.
SC Chamber Judge Md Abdul Wahhab Miah on October 14 fixed November 27 for hearing the appeal of Khaleda Zia. Later on the ACC, which filed the corruption case, submitted a petition to the apex court for modification of the chamber judge’s order and hearing of the appeal quickly.
The apex court said it will also hearing two more appeals filed by Khaleda Zia in connection the Zia Orphanage Trust and Zia Charitable Trust corruption cases on the same.
One of the two appeals were filed on July 7 this year challenging an HC verdict that rejected her petition challenging the indictment order in Zia Charitable Trust corruption case. The other appeal was filed in 2012 challenging another HC verdict that rejected her petition challenging a lower court order that had accepted charges against her in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case.
Bashudev Roy of the Special Judge's Court-3 of Dhaka indicted Khaleda and eight others in the case in March.
On April 23, the HC upheld the lower court's indictment order after rejecting a petition filed by Khaleda.
Khaleda on July 7 filed a leave-to-appeal petition with the SC challenging the HC verdict.
Meanwhile, a trial court asked Khaleda and four other accuse, now on bail, to appear before it on November 9 in connection with the two corruption cases. Judge Bashudev Roy also adjourned the hearing of the two cases till the date.
The court came up with the order after Khaleda’s counsel informed that she could not comply with its earlier order that had asked her to appear before it today (October 26) due to security grounds.
ZIA ORPHANAGE CASE
The ACC on July 3, 2008 had sued Khaleda, Tarique and four others in the case. The other accused are former BNP lawmaker Kazi Saleemul Haque, businessman Sharfuddin Ahmed, Khaleda's former principal secretary Kamal Uddin Siddiqui and Momenur Rahman.
The case statement said a grant of $1,255,000 (then around Tk 4.45 crore) was transferred from the United Saudi Commercial Bank to the Prime Minister's Orphanage Fund created by the then premier Khaleda shortly before the money was transferred on June 9, 1991.
It was done as part of a planned embezzlement, and only Khaleda administered the fund, said the complainant.
The ACC pressed charges against the accused on August 5, 2009 as the charges brought against them were primarily proved.
ZIA CHARITABLE TRUST CASE
During the tenure of the four-party alliance government, Khaleda and three others abused power to raise fund for Zia Charitable Trust, according to the ACC that filed the case on August 8, 2011.
The other accused in the case are Harris Chowdhury, Ziaul Islam Munna, assistant private secretary to Harris, and Monirul Islam Khan, APS to Sadeque Hossain Khoka, mayor of the erstwhile Dhaka City Corporation.
The money was collected from different sources by using the influence of the PMO in 2005. An amount of Tk 7.81 crore was deposited in the trust account in a week starting from January 13 that year, complained the ACC.
Khaleda, as the first managing trustee of the charity, opened the account with the PMO branch of Sonali Bank on January 1.
Of the total fund, Tk 6.19 crore came from the BNP and the rest from unknown sources.