Staff Reporter :
The High Court on Wednesday fixed February 23, 2020, for hearing a bail petition filed by BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia in the Zia Charitable Trust case.
The High Court bench of Justice Obaidul Hassan and Justice AKM Zahirul Huq fixed the date after primary hearing on the petition.
Advocate Khandker Mahbub Hossain, Barrister Moudud Ahmed and advocate Zainul Abedin appeared in the court on
behalf of Khaleda Zia while advocate Khurshid Alam Khan stood for the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
Khandker Mahbub placed the petition in the court which said, “Earlier we rejected the petition once and you appeared in the appellate division against our order. So why you have come to this court again?”
In reply Khandker Mahbub said, “We have some new grounds.” Then the court fixed Sunday for hearing the petition.
BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia filed a fresh petition with the High Court on Tuesday on health ground.
A special court in Dhaka on October 29, 2018, convicted Khaleda in connection with the Zia Charitable Trust case and sentenced her to seven-year rigorous imprisonment.
On November 18, 2018, Khaleda Zia filed an appeal with the High Court challenging the lower court verdict and sought acquittal in the case. At the same time she filed a bail petition in the case which was rejected by the same HC bench on July 31, 2018.
Then she moved to the appellate division and the apex court on December 12, 2019, rejected her bail petition in the case.
The apex court, however, asked the medical board of the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) to provide Khaleda with advance biological treatment with her consent.
A six-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain passed the order after dismissing her petition with observations.
Khaleda Zia is suffering from Diabetes Mellitus, Hypertension, Cough variant Asthma, and Rheumatoid Arthritis with secondary Sjogren syndrome with bilateral total knee replacement due to advance knee osteoarthritis.
The Anti-Corruption Commission filed the Zia Charitable Trust case against Khaleda, Harris, Ziaul and Monirul with Tejgaon police on August 8, 2011.
Khaleda Zia landed in jail on February 8, 2018, after a Dhaka court sentenced her to five years imprisonment in Zia Orphanage Trust case. The High Court on October 30 of the same year enhanced the punishment to 10 years.
