Staff Reporter :
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has filed bail petition once again with the High Court in the Zia Charitable Trust case in which she was awarded seven years jail term by a trial court.
The petition was filed on Tuesday seeking bail on health ground, said Advocate Khandker Mahbub Hossain, one of the senior counsels of BNP Chief. The petition might be heard in the High Court Bench of Justice Obaidul Hassan and Justice AKM Zahirul Huq today (Wednesday).
“Khaleda Zia is seriously ill and her condition is deteriorating day by day. She needs advance medical treatment. Considering all these, the bail petition has been filed,” added Khandker Mahbub.
Earlier on December 12, 2019, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court 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.
Earlier the court heard from both the parties about the three medical reports regarding Khaleda Zia’s health condition.
Khaleda Zia has been 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, as per Medical reports.
A special court in Dhaka on October 29, 2018, convicted Khaleda Zia 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 HC on July 31.
The Anti-Corruption Commission filed the Zia Charitable Trust case against Khaleda Zia, 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 of Khaleda Zia to 10 years imprisonment in this case.
