A Dhaka court on Wednesday deferred recording the depositions of the witnesses in the two graft cases against BNP Chief Khaleda Zia and others.
Judge of Dhaka’s Special Judge Court-3, Basudeb Roy deferred the new date to June 19 after hearing on two separate petitions filed by the defence seeking more time.They submitted the time petitions as the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court is yet to give the final decision against the High Court order that rejected the appeal of the accused that two cases cannot run together. Meanwhile, the Appellate Division has given its decision Wednesday rejecting the appeal against decision of the High Court..
All accused except Khaleda Zia appeared to the makeshift court set up on the Alia Madrasa campus adjacent to Dhaka Central Jail. She last appeared to the court on Mar 19 when the court framed charges against the accused in the two cases. The former Opposition Leader sought time on 41 occasions in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case and 11 times in the Zia Charitable Trust graft case.
On Feb 16, the court issued an ultimatum to Begum Khaleda Zia asking her to appear before it on Mar 19 or face arrest.
In 2008, ACC filed the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case against six people including Khaleda Zia and her elder son Tarique Rahman. The other accused of the case are Mominur Rahman, nephew of late President Ziaur Rahman, Khaleda’s former principal secretary Dr Kamaluddin Siddique, and former BNP Kazi Salimul Haque and Sharfuddin Ahmed.
In the case it has been alleged that the defendants pocketed Tk 21 million from funds meant for the trust, which reportedly came from a foreign bank. The charge sheet of the case against the six accused was submitted on August 5, 2010.
On August 8, 2011, the ACC sued the BNP chief and three others with Tejgaon Police Station for siphoning off Tk 31.5 million of the Zia Charitable Trust.. In the case, Khaleda Zia was accused of abusing power in raising funds for the trust from unknown sources.
The three other accused in the case are Khaleda Zia’s former political secretary Harris Chowdhuty, his former assistant personal secretary Ziaul Islam Munna, and Manirul Islam Khan, former personal secretary of the mayor of undivided Dhaka City Corporation Sadeque Hossain Khoka.
Relinquishing his party portfolio, Tarique Rahman, the then Senior Joint Secretary General if BNP left for London on September 11, 2008 for treatment after obtaining bail from the apex court. – Court Correspondent
