Trial court shifts again in Zia Orphanage Trust graft case

Staff Correspondent: The High Court (HC) once again accepted BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s appeal to shift court to hold trial in the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case.

A High Court bench comprising Justice Md Shawkat Hossain and Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder passed the order on Sunday.

Senior lawyer AJ Mohammad Ali along with lawyer Zakir Hossain Bhuiyan and lawyer Farhana Sharafat stood for Khaleda while lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan represented Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).

ACC counsel Khurshid Alam Khan told risingbd.com that the court also rejected Khaleda’s other petition seeking a stay order on the trial proceedings of the case.

The bench, however, did not specify which court will deal with the case now. “The High Court will announce it later,” the counsel said.

Its previous order to finish the trial proceedings within 60 days will be in effect, said court sources.

On March 8, the HC had shifted the case to Dhaka’s Senior Metropolitan Special Sessions Judge’s Court from Special Judge’s Court 3 of Dhaka upon the BNP chief’s petition. On April 26, Khaleda moved a fresh petition with the HC again to shift the case from that court to another.

The Senior Metropolitan Special Sessions Judge’s Court was supposed to record Khaleda’s self-defence statement in the case on Monday after she lodged a no confidence petition against its Judge Kamrul Hossain Mollah on April 13.

Khaleda Zia and her eldest son Tarique Rahman and four others were accused of embezzling Tk2.1 crore from the orphanage trust fund. The ACC filed the case against them in 2008.

risingbd/DHAKA/May 14, 2017/Mehedi/Amirul