The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has rejected the verdicts announced by the High Court and the trial court in the Zia Orphanage Trust case acquitting all the convicted including Tarique Rahman in the case.
The five-member Appellate Division, led by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed, passed the verdict acquitting Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairperson Khaleda Zia and her son, also the party’s acting chairman, Tarique Rahman on Wednesday.
As a result of this verdict, all the convicted, who could not file appeal pleas with the apex court, were acquitted.
Following the verdict, Khaleda Zia’s lawyer Joynul Abedin said the appeal has been accepted. The court has rejected the verdict announced by the trial court and the High Court subsequently acquitting all the convicted.
Earlier, the High Court increased the imprisonment sentence of Khaleda Zia to 10-year from the trial court’s 5-year imprisonment sentence in the case on 30 October 2018.
On 14 March 2019, Khaleda Zia filed two separate leave to appeal pleas against the verdict.
The Appellate Division granted the appeal pleas of Khaleda Zia on 11 November and stayed the effectiveness of the verdict. Following this, the former prime minister filed separate appeals against the verdict.
Besides, former member of parliament Kazi Salimul Haque Kamal and businessperson Sharfuddin Ahmed last year filed separate petitions against the High Court order that upheld 10-year imprisonment.
The hearing on Khaleda Zia’s appeal started on 7 January. On the fourth day, on 14 January, the hearing on appeals of Khaleda Zia and Sharfuddin Ahmed ended.
Later, the court said that the verdict will be pronounced Wednesday.
Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed pronounced the verdict around 9:45 am.
Senior lawyer Joynnel Abedin AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon, M Badruddoza and lawyer Kaiser Kamal represented Khaleda Zia in the court.
Besides, senior lawyer Md Ruhul Kuddus represented Khaleda Zia and Sharfuddin while senior lawyer SM Shahjahan took part in the hearing representing Kazi Salimul Haque Kamal.
Additional attorney general Mohammad Arshadur Rauf and Anuk R Haque represented the state in the hearing while lawyer Asif Hasan represented the ACC.
ACC lawyer Asif Hasan said there were four appeals; the court granted all of them. The court also has rejected the verdict of the High Court division and the trial court.
He further said those who could not file appeal pleas were also acquitted as the court said this was a “malicious prosecution”. The ACC will be informed about the verdict. Then the ACC will decide about this.
Case details
The Zia Orphanage Trust graft case was filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on 3 July 2008, accusing Khaleda Zia of misappropriating over Tk 21 million that was received as grants for orphans via a foreign bank.
On 8 February 2018, special judge court-5 pronounced the verdict in the case, sentencing 5-year imprisonment for Khaleda Zia. She was also fined in the case. Besides, her elder son and BNP’s acting chairperson Tareq Rahman, former member of parliament Kazi Salimul Haque Kamal, former principal secretary Kamal Uddin Siddiqui, businessperson Sharfuddin Ahmed were sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.
Khaleda Zia appealed against the trial court’s sentence at High Court in 2018 while Kazi Salimul Haque Kamal and Sharfuddin Ahmed filed separate appeals against their sentences.
On the other hand, the High Court issued a rule as the ACC appealed for raising the prison sentence of Khaleda Zia. After hearing three appeal pleas and the ruling, the HC pronounced its verdict on 30 October 2018.
The appeal of Khaleda Zia was rejected by the High Court. The court also raised the 5-year imprisonment of the BNP chief to 10-year.
The court also rejected the appeals of Kazi Salimul Haque Kamal and Sharfuddin Ahmed.