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HC imposes embargo on media-men as Zia Orphanage hearing hits snag

Friday, 18 September 2009


Journalists were forbidden from running any report on 'happenings' during Thursday's High Court (HC) hearings on the twin-petitions of ex-premier Khaleda Zia and her elder son Tarique Rahman for quashing Zia Orphanage Trust fund-embezzlement case as the proceedings hit snags, reports UNB.
The embargo was announced in the open court of a High Court vacation bench comprising Justice AFM Abdur Rahman and Justice M R Hasan, court sources said.
Both sides refrained from making any remark on the court affairs.
The admissibility hearing on the petitions began Wednesday and as the submissions by the Attorney General remained inconclusive, the court adjourned the hearings for Thursday.
When contacted, Attorney-General Mahbubey Alam declined to make any comment about what had happened during the day's hearing.
The chief law officer of the government, however, said the counsel for the petitioners 'took back' their petitions from the bench.
A week after the Metropolitan Sessions Judge set October 25 for the commencement of trial of the case, charge-sheeted accused Khaleda Zia and Tarique Rahman on September 15 filed separate petitions with the High Court for quashing the case proceedings as they think it was one of zillion cases tainted with political motives.
On July 3 last year, the Anti-corruption Commission filed the case against Khaleda Zia, Tarique Rahman and others with Ramna Police Station in Dhaka amid an anti-graft drive under state of emergency following the 1/11 changeover.
According to the case, the then PM, Khaleda Zia, and the other accused "embezzled" over Tk 21.0 million by establishing an organisation styled Zia Orphanage Trust that exists "only on paper".