Zia Charitable graft case: SC upholds acquittal of Khaleda

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court yesterday upheld the High Court verdict acquitting BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and two others in the Zia Charitable Trust corruption case.

A three-member bench of the Appellate Division, led by Justice Md Ashfaqul Islam, dismissed the leave-to-appeal petitions filed by the state and the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) challenging the High Court judgement.

With this order, Khaleda stands acquitted in both the Zia Orphanage Trust and Zia Charitable Trust cases, in which she had previously been convicted and sentenced, Advocate Maksud Ullah, a lawyer for Khaleda Zia, told The Daily Star.

He added that Khaleda is on bail in other cases against her.

Pro-BNP lawyers, including Barrister AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon, Barrister Md Bodruddoza Badal, Advocate Aminul Islam, and Barrister Md Ruhul Quddus Kazal, represented Khaleda Zia, while Additional Attorney General Aneek R Haque and Advocate Ashif Hassan appeared for the state and ACC, respectively, during the hearing.

On November 27 last year, the High Court acquitted Khaleda in the Zia Charitable Trust graft case, in which she was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment by a lower court.

The ACC filed the case with the Tejgaon Police Station on August 8, 2011, accusing Khaleda and three others of abusing power to raise funds for the trust from undisclosed sources.

A Dhaka court, on October 29, 2018, convicted Khaleda and sentenced her to seven years imprisonment in the case.

The other three convicted accused were Khaleda’s then political secretary Harris Chowdhury (now deceased), Harris Chowdhury’s then private secretary Ziaul Islam Munna, and private secretary to former mayor of the Dhaka City Corporation Monirul Islam Khan.

The state and the ACC filed three separate leave-to-appeal petitions in January and February, seeking a stay on the High Court verdict. In the petitions, they prayed to the apex court to stay the HC verdict, saying they would move separate appeals before this court against the HC judgement.