Hearing of Khaleda’s graft cases adjourned till Nov 24

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia waves hand to her supporters after she reached a Dhaka court premises on Sunday in connection with the Zia Charitable and Zia Orphanage corruption cases. Photo: Palash Khan

A Dhaka Court today adjourned till November 24 the hearing of the Zia Orphanage and Zia Charitable trust graft cases against BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and eight others.

Judge Bashudev Roy of the special Judge Court-3 passed the order after Khaleda Zia’s lawyers submitted two separate adjournment petitions before the court.

The court started the hearing in the two corruption cases around 11:00am today in presence of Khaleda at the courtroom.

The BNP chief, who appeared before the makeshift court in Bakshi Bazar area in compliance with the court’s earlier order, left the court premises around noon.

A good number of leaders and activists of the party thronged Chankharpul area near the court premises carrying several banners, placards and festoons to welcome Khaleda. They also chanted slogans demanding cancellation of the cases’ proceedings.

Security measures have been beefed up in and around the court premises and entry of common people in the area was restricted to avert farther untoward incident centring the BNP chairperson’s arrival.

Police also blocked a road leading to Bakshi Bazar from Dhaka University's Jagannath Hall intersection which caused immense sufferings to the people in the area.

The judge on October 26 ordered for her mandatory attendance today after Khaleda skipped three previous hearing dates on “grounds of security.” The last time she appeared for the court's hearing on the cases was on September 17.

BNP chief set out from her Gulshan residence around 10:05am, Sayrul Kabir Khan, a staff of the party’s media wing, told The Daily Star Online.

On October 26, the judge asked Khaleda and four other accused, now on bail, to appear before the court today (November 9) for taking depositions from witnesses in connection with the graft cases.

The Anti-Corruption Commission had filed the two cases in 2008 and 2011. Khaleda, her son Tarique Rahman and four others embezzled Tk 2.1 crore by forming the charity that exists only on paper, according to the charge sheet of one of the cases.

In March this year, the lower court indicted Khaleda and eight others in the cases. ACC lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan told this correspondent that the lower court can run trial proceedings of the cases as the SC has not stayed the proceedings.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court deferred till November 16 the date for hearing three separate appeals filed by Khaleda regarding the two graft cases.

Of the appeals, two were filed on July 7 this year against a High Court verdict that had rejected Khaleda’s two writ petitions challenging the charge framing order against her and eight others in the graft cases.

The other appeal was filed in 2012 against another HC verdict that had rejected a petition of the BNP chief challenging a lower court order that had accepted charges against her in a graft case.

A five-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Md Muzammel Hossain set November 16 after defence sought time saying that they were not prepared for placing arguments on the appeals.