Graft case against Tarique, Zubaida: Charge hearing deferred till 9 April

A Dhaka court on Wednesday deferred till 9 April the hearing on charge framing against BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman and his wife Zubaida Rahman in a case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) for acquiring wealth beyond their known sources of income and concealing information in their affidavits.

Dhaka metropolitan senior special judge Md Asaduzzaman fixed the fresh date.

Earlier, on 1 November 2022, Dhaka court issued arrest warrants for Tarique Rahman and his wife Dr Zubaida in the graft case.

On 26 June, the High court ordered the judicial court to dispose of the case as soon as possible.

The HC also rejected the couple’s writ petitions, challenging the corruption case against them.

As both of them remain fugitives, the court rejected the writ petitions – saying these are not acceptable.

The court also withdrew the stay order on the trial proceedings of the case filed against them.

On 26 September 2007, ACC lodged a complaint with Kafrul police against Tarique Rahman, Zubaida and her mother Iqbal Mand Banu for amassing illegal wealth worth Tk 48.1 million and concealing the information.

In the same year, the High Court issued a rule suspending the trial proceedings in the case after hearing a petition filed by Zubaida.

The HC rejected the rule in 2017 and asked her to surrender before the court within eight weeks.