Dhaka, July 1 – The High Court Division of the Supreme Court yesterday fixed Tuesday, (July 3) for hearing four separate appeals in connection with Zia Orphanage Trust graft case in which BNP Chief Begum Khaleda Zia was sentenced to five years’ rigorous imprisonment. Of the four appeals, one was filed by Khaleda Zia seeking acquittal, a revision petition filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission seeking enhancement of Khaleda Zia’s imprisonment, and two others filed by convicts Qazi Saleemul Huq alias Qazi Kamal and Sharfuddin Ahmed seeking acquittal.
The High Court bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Md Mostafizur Rahman fixed the date after the appeals of ACC, Saleemul Huq and Sharfudin were included in its yesterday’s cause list.
The same High Court bench had earlier fixed July 3 for hearing the appeal of Khaleda Zia challenging the lower court verdict convicting her in this case.
On Sunday, the High Court bench said all the appeals of Khaleda Zia, ACC, Saleemul Huq and Sharfudin will be heard analogously.
Considering an application submitted by the ACC, Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain on Thursday asked the High Court bench led by Justice Enayetur Rahim to hear the appeals of ACC, Salemul Huq and Sharfuddin analogously.
The High Court bench led by Justice Enayetur Rahim, on March 12, granted four months’ bail to Khaleda Zia in the case, accepted the appeals of Khaleda Zia, Saleemul Huq and Sharfuddin for their hearing and stayed the fines.
Following ACC’s petition, the High Court, on March 28, issued a rule asking Khaleda Zia and the government to explain why her imprisonment in Zia Orphanage Trust graft case should not be extended.
On February 8, the Special Judge’s Court-5 of Dhaka sentenced Khaleda Zia to five years’ rigorous imprisonment, finding her guilty in the graft case.
The court also jailed her elder son Tarique Rahman, now the acting chairman of BNP, and four others for 10 years and fined them Tk 2.1 crore, saying all six convicts would have to pay the fine in equal amounts.
The four other convicts are Qazi Saleemul Huq, an ex-BNP MP from Magura, Sharfuddin Ahmed, a businessman, Mominur Rahman, a cousin of Tarique and Kamal Uddin Siddique, former principal secretary.
Of them, Mominur Rahman and Kamal are on the run while Saleemul Huq and Sharfuddin were sent to prison on February 8. The sentence of the fugitives will be effective from the day of their arrest or surrender to the court.
The ACC filed the case with Ramna Police Station in July 2008, accusing the six of misappropriating over Tk 2.1 crore that came from a foreign bank as grants for orphans. – Special Correspondent
