By Mizan Rahman
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairperson and former PM Khaleda Zia yesterday filed two appeals with the Supreme Court against the High Court (HC) order that had rejected her two writ petitions in connection with the Zia Charitable Trust and Zia Orphanage Trust graft cases.
Hearing on the appeals is expected soon, said her lawayer Mahbub Uddin Khokon.
On May 12, Zia filed writs with the HC challenging the legality of the appointment of special judge Basudev Roy who framed charges in the two graft cases.
On May 25, the HC delivered dissenting verdicts on the two writ petitions.
While Justice Farah Mahbub stayed the proceedings of the two cases for three months, Justice Kazi Ejarul Haque Akondo rejected the petitions.
Later, the two petitions were sent to the chief justice who constituted the third bench for disposal of the petitions of the former prime minister. On June 19, the third bench rejected the petitions.
On March 19, judge Basudev Roy of the Dhaka’s Special Judge Court-3 framed charges against Zia, her son Tarique Rahman and seven others rejecting their time petition in the Zia Charitable Trust and Zia Orphanage Trust graft cases.
On April 13, the BNP chief filed separate revision appeals with the HC seeking to quash the lower court indictment orders against her in the two graft cases. However, the HC on April 23 rejected the two
petitions.
The case was first filed in August 2011 by the ACC accusing four people, including Zia, of abusing power in raising funds for Zia Charitable Trust from unknown sources.
ACC deputy director Harunur Rashid, also an investigation officer of the case, pressed charges against the
accused in January 2012.
Besides, the ACC filed the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case in July 2008 accusing Zia, her eldest son Tarique Rahman, now living in the UK after securing bail, and four others for misappropriating over 21mn taka which came as grants from a foreign bank for orphans.
