Khaleda appeals for bail, once again
appealing to HC twice is unprecedented: ACC
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia sought bail at the High Court (HC) in the Zia Charitable Trust graft case second time around, after having the previous plea rejected.
Barrister Kayser Kamal, the lawyer on Khaleda’s side, submitted the bail plea on Tuesday.
Earlier on July 31, a division bench at the HC rejected the bail plea of Khaleda Zia in the case.
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Kayser said, “The hearing of the petition may be held at the High Court bench, consisting Justice Farid Ahmed and Justice ASM Abdul Mobin.
The lawyers from the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) who have been investigating into the case have other ideas regarding whether or not it is possible to appeal to a new HC bench after a bail plea has been rejected.
Advocate Khurshid Alam Khan, an ACC Lawyer, told the media that there is no alternative to approaching the Appellate division, once HC rejects a bail plea.
“In Zia Charitable Trust graft case, the HC has already rejected the bail plea; thereby, appealing to a new HC bench will be “unprecedented”, Khurshid Alam Khan said, while adding that there is no legal bottleneck in applying for a bail plea in another HC bench after having a bail plea rejected by a HC division bench.
On October 29, 2018, a special judge court in Dhaka sentenced Khaleda Zia to seven years of imprisonment along with a fine of Tk10 lakh.
Seeking acquittal from the case, Khaleda appealed to a HC bench on November 18 of last year. Later, on April 30 of this year, the HC accepted the appeal for hearing, while issuing a stay order and seeking the documents pertaining to the case within two months.
The judicial court sent the documents to the HC on June 20. Subsequently, Khaleda’s lawyers presented her bail plea before the court.
On July 30, a hearing on the bail plea was held. On the very next day, the HC bench, consisting Justice Obaidul Hasan and Justice SM Kuddus Zaman, rejected the plea.
