Staff Reporter :
The Anti-Corruption Commission and the State lawyers completed their arguments seeking enhancement of punishment for BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia in Zia Orphanage Trust case, in which she was sentenced to five-year jail by the lower court earlier.
During the final arguments, ACC lawyer Advocate Khurshid Alam Khan sought life imprisonment for BNP chief while Attorney General Mahbubey Alam prayed for upholding the lower court verdict against Khaleda Zia.
Meanwhile, defence lawyers led by Advocate A J Mohammad Ali boycotted the courtroom after the court rejected their time prayer seeking adjournment of appeal hearing in the case.
Later, the HC bench comprising Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Md Mostafizur Rahman fixed today (Wednesday) for further order on the appeals.
During appeal hearing, Advocate A J Mohammad Ali, counsel for BNP chief, urged the court to deliver its order on their supplementary, which was filed seeking recording of more witnesses of the case. But, the HC bench said that it would deliver its order on the petition after completion of final arguments on the appeal.
Ali then prayed to the court to adjourn the hearing as they would move before the Appellate Division against the High Court order. But, the court refused to adjourn the hearing saying that there is a directive from the Appellate Division to dispose of the appeals by October 31.
Then, Advocate A J Mohammad Ali told the court that they would not take part in the hearing and leave the courtroom.
After that ACC lawyer Advocate Khurshid Alam Khan took part in the hearing and prayed to the court to enhance the punishment of Khaleda Zia to life term imprisonment in the case as she was the principal accused in the case.
He said that the lower court sentenced ten years imprisonments to the co-accused of the case. But, it sentenced to five years imprisonment to the principal accused Khaleda Zia, which was not correct in the eye of law. Hence, the HC should enhance her punishment in the case, Khan said.
Later, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam took part in the appeal hearing and prayed to the court to uphold the lower court verdict against Khaleda Zia in the case.
The chief State lawyer told the High Court that the lower court had correctly sentenced Khaleda Zia in Zia Orphanage Trust case. Hence, the HC should uphold her punishment in the case, he added.
Talking to reporters ACC lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan said that the defence lawyers boycotted the courtroom while the court refused to deliver its order on a petition regarding to record additional witnesses statement in the case.
On February 8, the Special Judge’s Court-5 of Dhaka convicted and sentenced Khaleda Zia to five years’ imprisonment in the corruption case.
The court also sentenced Khaleda’s eldest son and BNP Senior Vice Chairman Tarique Rahman and four others to 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment, and fined Tk 2.10 crore each.
Khaleda Zia on February 20 filed an appeal with the HC challenging the trial court verdict on her.
In the appeal, Khaleda Zia prayed to the HC to acquit her of the corruption charge and to scrap the lower court verdict, stay her conviction and suspend the five-year prison sentence.
On the other hand, the ACC and the state also filed two separate appeals in the case.
