Zia Charitable Trust graft case verdict on Oct 29

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DHAKA, Oct 16, 2018 (BSS) – A Dhaka court today set October 29 to pronounce judgement in Zia Charitable Trust graft case against BNP chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia and three others.

Judge Md Akhtaruzzaman of Dhaka Special Judge Court-5 passed the order as the defence repeatedly refrained from taking part in the hearing on arguments in the case.

“The court has set numerous dates in last two and a half years for hearing the arguments in the case. But in spite of adjourning the proceedings time and again, the defence did not take part in the hearing on arguments. So after concluding all the legal procedures, the court is setting October 29 for pronouncing the judgment,” the court said in its order.

The court however, extended Khaleda Zia’s bail till October 29.

“Khaleda’s counsels repeatedly wasted time of the court by filing time plea. They do not take part in any kind of legal proceedings but plead for bail whenever the bail period gets finished,” Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) counsel Mosharraf Hossain Kazal said.

Earlier on October 14, the High Court rejected a revision plea filed by BNP chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia, upholding a lower court order that had said it would continue the graft case proceedings in her absence.

The lower court on September 20 passed the order, saying it would hold hearing of the case in Khaleda’s absence as she was “unwilling” to appear at the makeshift court complex inside Old Dhaka Central Jail.

The ACC filed the case with capital’s Tejgaon Police Station on August 8, 2010, for embezzling Taka 3.15 crore while police on January 16, 2012, filed charge sheet against four including the ex-premier.

The other accused are Khaleda’s former political secretary Haris Chowdhury, the then BIWTA director Ziaul Islam Munna and Monirul Islam Khan, former personal secretary of former Dhaka city mayor Sadek Hossain Khoka.

The court framed charges against Khaleda and others in the case on March 19, 2014.

The BNP chairperson is now serving a five-year jail term in Zia Orphanage Trust graft case.