Govt, ACC file petitions against Khaleda bail

Two separate appeals have been filed with the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court against four-month interim bail of BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia in Zia Orphanage Trust graft case.

Advocate on record Sufia Khatun filed the appeal on behalf of state while lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan, on behalf of Anti-Corruption Commission, lodged another appeal.

The ACC lawyer said that chamber judge of Appellate Division will hear the appeals at noon.

On Monday, the High Court granted the interim bail to Khaleda Zia.

On 22 February, BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia filed the petition with the High Court seeking bail in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case.

Lawyers Nowshad Jamir and Kaiser Kamal, on behalf of the BNP chief, submitted the 880-page bail petition showing 31 grounds for granting her bail.

On 25 February, Khaleda Zia failed to secure bail in the case as the High Court says it will pass an order on her bail petition upon receiving all the documents relating to the judgment from the lower court.

Earlier, the HC asked the lower court to submit all the relevant documents within 15 days.

On 8 February, the Dhaka Special Court-5 convicted the former prime minister and BNP chairperson and sentenced her to five years' imprisonment in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case. She was then sent to old central jail at Nazimuddin Road in the city.

The court read out a 632-page summarised version of the verdict on that day and it released the full 1174-page copy of the verdict on 19 February.