Lawyers’ absence cause adjournment of Khaleda’s appeal hearing

The hearing of former prime minister and BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia’s appeal against her jail term in the Zia Orphanage Trust case was on Wednesday adjourned by the High Court Division until August 8 finding her lawyers absent.
A bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Md Mostafizur Rahman said in the order that none of the more than 25 lawyers who signed the vokalatnama appeared for her at the hearing.
‘We took serious note of it,’ it said. 
The court said that on Wednesday morning her lawyers Md Badruddoza and Kayser Kamal requested to adjourn the hearing.
The court said that it did not accept the request in view of the Appellate Division’s directive to dispose of her appeal by October 31.
Her lawyers were asked to appear at the hearing.
It said that when the matter was taken up for hearing, none of her lawyers were present.
‘In such a situation we were constrained to adjourn the hearing,’ it said.
Khaleda Zia’s lawyer Kayser Kamal told New Age that in the morning they requested the bench to adjourn the hearing until 2PM as their seniors were in the Appellate Division in connection with another matter.
‘We appeared in the court at 2PM but the court was not in session,’ he said.
The court officials told New Age that the judges left the courtroom at 12 midday as except for Khaleda Zia’s appeal no other matter was there for them to hear.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net