A regular bench of the High Court (HC) will hear two separate petitions filed by BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia, challenging the legality of a trial court order that had rejected her two petitions in the Zia Charitable Trust graft case.
One petition seeks fresh cross-examination of the investigation officer of the Zia Charitable Trust graft case, while the other wants the case diary scrutinised. A vacation bench of the HC, comprising Justice Miftah Uddin Chowdhury and Justice Khijir Ahmed Chowdhury, yesterday (Thursday) gave the decision, saying that a regular bench will hear Khaleda Zia’s pleas. The Supreme Court (SC) is now on vacation, which started on April 17 and will end on May 1.
Advocate Khushid Alam Khan, counsel for the ACC, told reporters that the petition would be sent back to the related branch of the HC and it would come up for hearing at a regular bench after the SC reopens. On April 18, Khaleda filed the two petitions before the HC against the trial court order that had rejected her two petitions in the Zia Charitable Trust graft case on April 17. After filing the petition, barrister Raghib Rauf Chowdhury, one of the counsel for Khaleda, told reporters that Khaleda prayed to the HC to stay the trial proceedings against her in the graft case. Citing from the petitions, Chowdhury said the investigating officer of the Zia Charitable Trust graft case, Harunur Rashid, was withdrawn from the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) in 2005 for incompetence. Rashid’s statement as the investigation officer in the Zia Charitable graft case is not acceptable, the lawyer added.
On Sunday, a Dhaka court rejected the two petitions filed by Khaleda. The court rejected the petitions as it found “no ground”. Lawyers of Khaleda submitted both the petitions before the court in the presence of Khaleda, who appeared before the court set up at Bakshibazar.
On April 7, the HC cleared the way for the trial court to continue the trial proceedings against her in the Zia Charitable Trust graft case. On March 9, the BNP chief filed the petition before the HC, challenging the legality of the appointment of Harunur Rashid in the Zia Charitable Trust graft case. The ACC, on August 8, 2011, had filed the Zia Charitable Trust graft case against Khaleda and three others on charges of embezzling Tk. 31.5 million by abusing power in setting up the charity. The three other accused are Harris Chowdhury, Khaleda’s former political secretary, Ziaul Islam Munna, assistant private secretary (APS) of Harris, and Monirul Islam Khan, APS of former Dhaka City Corporation Mayor, Sadeque Hossain Khoka.
Following the indictment in the case in March 2014, the former premier moved the HC, challenging the  validity and legality of appointing the judge framing the charges. However, both the pleas were rejected by the court.