The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Wednesday acquitted BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia and five others of the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case.
The apex court allowed all the appeals filed by the accused and scrapped the verdicts delivered by the High Court and the trial court in the case.
Earlier, the trial court sentenced Khaleda Zia to five years' imprisonment and other accused, including BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman, to 10 years.
Later, the HC, in its verdict, doubled the sentence of the former prime minister to 10 years.
The apex court observed that the prosecution of the case was "malicious".
The accused, who did not move appeal against the HC verdict, will get benefit of this judgment and their dignity has been restored as innocent, according to the SC.
A five-member bench of the Appellate Division, headed by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed, announced the verdict unanimously.
Advocate Zainul Abedin, one of the counsels who represented the BNP chief in court hearing, said the SC allowed the appeals filed by the accused and set aside the previous verdicts.
It seemed that the court was functioning independently, added the lawyer.
Barrister Kayser Kamal, another counsel, said Khaleda Zia, Tarique Rahman and other accused got justice from the apex court.
The top court delivered the judgment after hearing two appeals filed by Khaleda and one each by Saleemul Huq alias Kazi Kamal and businessman Sharafuddin Ahmed, challenging the HC verdict.
Lawyers Zainul Abedin, AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon, Ruhul Quddus Kazal, Kayser Kamal, Zakir Hossain, Maksud Ullah and others appeared in the court hearing on behalf of the BNP chief.
On the other hand, Additional Attorney General Aneeq R Haque represented the state and lawyer Md Asif Hasan appeared for the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
On 30 October 2018, the HC increased five years' imprisonment of Khaleda to 10 years and upheld 10 years' jail sentence of other accused in the case.
On 11 November 2024, the Appellate Division stayed the HC judgment and also allowed Khaleda to file two appeals with it, challenging the HC verdict.
The 79-year-old ex-premier then filed the appeals with the apex court to scrap the HC judgment and acquit her of the case filed by the ACC.
She was initially imprisoned on 08 February 2018, when a special court in Dhaka awarded her five years in jail in consideration of her age and social status.
The ACC filed the case in July 2008, accusing Khaleda Zia and others of misappropriating over Tk 21 million that was received as grants for orphans through a foreign bank.
In August 2011, it also filed the Zia Charitable Trust graft case with Tejgaon police station, accusing four people, including Khaleda, of raising funds for the trust from unknown sources and abusing power.
On 27 November 2024, the HC acquitted Khaleda of the case in which she was given seven years in prison by a lower court.
The BNP chief had long been suffering from multiple health issues, including liver cirrhosis, arthritis, diabetes, kidney, lung, heart, eye problem and post-Covid complications.
Amid the coronavirus outbreak, the then government temporarily freed her from jail through an executive order by suspending her sentence on 25 March 2020 on condition that she would stay at her Gulshan house and not leave the country.
Since then, her release term had been extended every six months following the family's plea.
Khaleda Zia was fully released from her internment on 06 August 2024 by an executive order in the latest state of her imprisonment, after Sheikh Hasina's downfall on August 05 amid a student-mass uprising. However, she intended to face her cases legally.
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