Khaleda skips court hearing amid lax hartal
Citing security reasons, BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia yesterday once again skipped a Dhaka court's hearing on the Zia Charitable Trust and Zia Orphanage Trust graft cases.The BNP chief also skipped the hearing on October 13 and September 22, mentioning the same reasons. The last time she appeared for the court's hearing on the cases was on September 17.Bashudev Roy of the Special Judge's Court-3 of Dhaka yesterday adjourned recording statements of the prosecution witnesses till November 9 after Khaleda's lawyers filed four petitions.
The judge asked Khaleda and four other accused, now on bail, to appear before the court on November 9 for taking depositions from witnesses in connection with the graft cases. The judge said Khaleda Zia must be present at the court on that day.Meanwhile, Sammilito Islami Dalsomuho, a platform of different Islamic organisations yesterday observed a slack dawn-to-dusk countrywide hartal demanding arrest of sacked minister Abdul Latif Siddique for his anti-Islam remarks.Our correspondents from different districts said there was no report of any unwarranted incidents due to the hartal.The Islamic alliance, many of whose members are components in the BNP-led 20-party alliance, announced fresh protest programmes on Friday at the country's mosques following the Jumma prayers to drive home their demand.The hartal did not appear to have affected businesses in Dhaka. However, traffic on the city streets and roads was thinner than usual. Plying of vehicles on long distances was suspended.
Meanwhile yesterday, the Supreme Court fixed November 6 for hearing three separate appeals filed by the BNP chief.Of the appeals, two were filed on July 7 this year against a High Court verdict that had rejected her two writ petitions challenging the charge framing order against her and eight others in the graft cases.The other appeal was filed in 2012 against another HC verdict that had rejected a petition of the BNP chief challenging a lower court order that had accepted charges against her in a graft case.
Yesterday, a five-member bench of the Appellate Division of the SC headed by Chief Justice Md Muzammel Hossain set the date, Khaleda Zia's lawyer Zainul Abedin told The Daily Star.The Anti-Corruption Commission had filed the two cases in 2008 and 2011. Khaleda, her son Tarique Rahman and four others embezzled Tk 2.1 crore by forming the charity that exists only on paper, according to the charge sheet of one of the cases.In March this year, the lower court indicted Khaleda and eight others in the cases. ACC lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan told this correspondent that the lower court can run trial proceedings of the cases as the SC has not stayed the proceedings.
