Dhaka, May 16 – Attorney general Mahbubey Alam on Wedsnesday said BNP Chief Begum Khaleda Zia will not be able to delay the trial process of Zia Orphanage Trust graft case.He referred to the Supreme Court order issued Wednesday on the High Court to complete disposal of Khaleda Zia’s appeal against the verdict in the case within 31 July.
“The Appellate Division (of the Supreme Court) has ordered (the High Court) to settle Khaleda’s appeal withint the timeframe. Now, we are taking all-out preparations for holding hearing in the appeal,” the state's top most law officer said after the Appellate Division order.
The Attorney General alleged that Khaleda Zia had delayed the trial process for nine years at the lower court. "She will not be able to do so anymore," he added.
When asked about Khaleda Zia’s release from the prison, her lawyer Syed Joynul Abedin told newswmen that she has to secure bail in six other cases – three in Cumilla, two in Dhaka and one in Narail districts. On 8 February this year, Khaleda Zia was sent to old central jail on Nazimuddin Road in the city in the graft case.
The Appellate Division on Wednesday morning upheld the High Court order that granted bail to BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia in the Zia Orphanage Trust case verdict on 12 March, following an appeal from her lawyers.
A four-member bench of the Appellate Division, led by chief justice Syed Mahmud Hossain, handed down the order rejecting two leave-to-appeal petitions filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and the state.
The Chief Justice, during the hearing, claimed that the judges do not pass order seeing political identity of the accused. – Special Correspondent
