Zia Charitable Trust case: Khaleda again seeks bail from HC

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia sought bail again from the High Court Division in the Zia Charitable Trust corruption case in which she had been jailed for 10 years.

Her lawyer Kaisar Kamal filed the petition on her behalf on Tuesday.

The court had rejected her previous petition on July 31, in the case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) in 2011.

ACC lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan said the fresh petition was “unprecedented”. “Once the High Court rejects a bail plea, one should move the Appellate Division,” he said.

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But Kaisar Kamal argued that the petition had been filed according to rule and practice. “There’s no legal obstruction in this regard,” he said.

A special court jailed the BNP chief and three others for seven years in the corruption case on October 29 last year. Khaleda later moved the High Court which increased her sentence by three more years.

The former prime minister has been in prison since February 8 last year after she was sentenced to jail for five years in the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case.

On August 8, 2011, the ACC filed the Zia Charitable Trust graft case with Tejgaon police accusing four people, including Khaleda, of abusing power in raising funds for the trust from unknown sources.