HC accepts Khaleda’s bail plea for hearing

The High Court today accepted for hearing a bail petition of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia in Zia Charitable Trustgraft case, in which she has been sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment by a lower court.

The HC bench of Justice Farid Ahmed and Justice AHM Abdul Mobin Howlader, however, did not fix any date for hearing the bail petition.

The HC may hold hearing on the bail petition any day this week, Barrister Kayser Kamal, a lawyer for Khaleda, said.

Earlier in the day, Khaleda’s lawyer Adv Joynul Abedin, Barrister AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon and Barrister Kayser Kamal placed the bail petition before the HC bench for its hearing.

Khaleda on September 3 sought bail from the High Court for the second time in the Zia Charitable Trust corruption case.

She submitted the petition through her lawyer Barrister Kayser Kamal, saying that she is seriously ill and is now hospitalized, as she has been suffering from different health complications.

In the bail petition, Khaleda also urged the High Court to consider her bail on some other grounds -- including that she is a 74-year-old woman and the chief of BNP -- the largest political party; she was a three-time prime minister; and also the jail sentence handed down by the trial court is short, Kayser Kamal told The Daily Star earlier.

The Anti-Corruption Commission filed the case with Tejgaon Police Station on August 8, 2011. On October 29 last year, a special court in Dhaka convicted Khaleda in the case and sentenced her to seven years’ imprisonment in her absence.

The BNP chief is now in jail, after being sentenced to five years’ imprisonment in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case on February 8.

The HC on October 30 last year enhanced her punishment to 10 years in Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case after dismissing her appeal.