Graft case hearing
Khaledas delay irks court
Staff Reporter
A Dhaka court yesterday (Wednesday) witnessed a heated exchange of words when the judge asked the defence lawyers to complete their final arguments in connection with the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case.
During the hearing, the judge rebuked the defence lawyers in the presence of the BNP chairperson, Khaleda Zia, for their late appearance before the court. Judge Md Akhteruzzaman of the Special Judge Court-5 asked the defence lawyers to appear before the bench within 10.30am from now on.
Khaledas lawyers cited traffic congestion as the reason for their delay, but the judge dismissed it and requested them to appear before the court in time. The former Premier reached the court around 11:52am and the proceedings began at 12:00pm. The court was scheduled to start at 9:00am.
As lawyer AJ Mohammed Ali started arguments on behalf of Khaleda, the judge reminded him that the court proceedings were supposed to begin at 9:30am and wanted to know why they arrived at 12:00pm.
From now on, court proceedings will begin at 10:30am, whether you come or not, said the judge.
As soon as the judge asked Khaledas lawyers to complete their arguments that had been continuing for eight days, Khaledas lawyers started a hue and cry. At one stage, the judge said he would suspend the court proceedings if the defence lawyers continued with the hue and cry.
Later, Khaledas lawyer Abdur Rezak Khan told the court that they were trying to focus on relevant arguments of the case. He also urged the court to allow them to continue their final arguments until their statements on relevant issues were completed. Then, the situation became normal.
Echoing Rezak Khan, AJ Mohammed Ali questioned why the judge had curbed the time for their arguments.
I am placing arguments in a case which was filed based on fake documents. Preparing fake documents is also an offence, he said. He urged the court to acquit Khaleda from the case.
During the hearing, Khaledas lawyers filed an application before the court, alleging that six members of the prosecution team had fabricated materials and testimonials to create the case. They appealed to the court to take legal steps against the six, including Investigation Officer Harun-or-Rashid and state witness Jaglul Pasha.
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case on July 3, 2008 with Ramna police station, accusing Khaleda, her elder son Tarique Rahman and four others of misappropriating over Tk. 2.1 crore, received as grants for orphans via a foreign bank.
