HC rejects Khaleda’s bail plea in Zia Charitable Trust graft case

Special Correspondent
The High Court on Wednesday summarily rejected bail application of former prime minister and Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairperson Khaleda Zia in the Zia Charitable Trust corruption case in which she was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment.
A bench of Justice Obaidul Hassan and Justice SM Kuddus Zaman passed the order after hearing her application for two days.
Khaleda’s lawyers prayed for her bail on humanitarian ground as she was a woman and was suffering from illness because of her jail custody since February 8, 2018.
In the bail petition they said that Khaleda had been suffering from different diseases including diabetes and dental problem, and she had already served two and half years in jail in this case and therefore she deserved bail in the case.
Her bail was opposed by attorney general Mahbubey Alam and Anti-Corruption Commission’s lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan.
On October 29, 2018, a special court in Dhaka convicted Khaleda in the case and sentenced her to seven years’ imprisonment.
The ACC filed the case with Tejgaon Police Station on August 8, 2011.
The BNP chief landed in jail after being sentenced to five years’ imprisonment in the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case by the same court on February 8, 2018.
On October 30, 2018 the High Court enhanced her punishment to 10 years in the case after dismissing her appeal.