Zubaida gets HC bail in 2007 graft case

The High Court yesterday granted bail to Zubaida Rahman, wife of BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman, in a corruption case in which she was sentenced to three years' imprisonment by a lower court in 2023.

The HC bench of Justice Md Khasruzzaman passed the order after accepting an appeal filed by Zubaida challenging the trial court verdict.

The bail of Zubaida, who returned to Bangladesh on May 6 after 17 years from London, will continue until disposal of the appeal, the court said.

The HC stayed the realisation of the fine imposed by the lower court on Zubaida in this case and called for its record from the lower court, Zubaida's lawyer Maksud Ullah said.

Earlier on Tuesday, the same HC bench condoned Zubaida's 587 days' delay for filing the appeal against the trial court verdict in the case.

According to the law, an appeal is supposed to be filed with the HC within 60 days after the trial court delivers judgement in such a case, SM Shahjahan, a senior counsel for Zubaida, told this correspondent on Tuesday.

He also informed that the government on October 2 last year suspended the jail term of Zubaida Rahman for one year, on the condition that she will file an appeal in the case upon surrender.

Following the HC's order of condonation of delay on Tuesday, Zubaida's lawyers filed the appeal with the HC challenging the trial court judgment.

A group of lawyers including SM Shahjahan, AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon, Kayser Kamal, Aminul Islam, Nasir Uddin Ashim, Zakir Hossain Bhuiyan and Maksud appeared for Zubaida, while lawyer Asif Hasan stood for the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) during the hearing.

On August 2, 2023, a Dhaka court sentenced Tarique Rahman to nine years' imprisonment and his wife Zubaida to three years jail sentence in the corruption case.

Tarique was also fined Tk 3 crore, in default of which he will have to serve three more months in jail.

The court fined Zubaida Tk 35 lakh.

If she fails to pay the money, she will have to serve one more month in prison, the trial court said in the verdict.

On September 26, 2007, the ACC filed the case with Kafrul Police Station against the two and Zubaida's mother Syeda Iqbal Mand Banu, on charges of amassing assets worth Tk 4.82 crore through "illegal" means and concealing the information of Tk 2.16 crore in their wealth statements.