SC rejects Khaleda pleas

The Appellate Division has quashed two petitions by BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia challenging the legality of the appointment of a lower court judge, who indicted her in two graft cases. A five-member bench led by Chief Justice M Muzammel Hossain decided the issue on Sunday. The matter had been ‘dismissed’, the chief justice said. Hearings on the petitions concluded on Thursday (Sept 13), when the court had set today (Sept 14) as the day for the verdict. Attorney General Mahbubey Alam represented the state, while AJ Mohammad Ali and Joynal Abedin stood for the BNP chief. On March 19, the court of Dhaka’s Third Metropolitan Sessions Judge Basudeb Roy framed charges against eight including Khaleda Zia and her elder son Tarique Rahman in the two corruption cases accusing them of embezzling Tk 50 million. Khaleda, on May 12, challenged the legality of the appointment of Judge Roy. She also sought a stay on the case proceedings. On May 25, the High Court bench of Justices Farah Mahbub and Kazi Md Ejarul Haque Akondo delivered a split verdict on the plea over the legality of judge Roy’s appointment. Earlier Khaleda had moved High Court challenging the indictment but it dismissed her plea. Justice Farah Mahbub issued a ruling and ordered a freeze on the proceedings in the cases, while Justice Kazi Md Ejarul Haque Akondo wanted to scrap the petitions. As per rule, the matter was forwarded to the CJ who assigned Justice Quazi Reza-Ul Hoque’s bench to hear the petitions. The bench also dismissed the petitions on June 19. Khaleda then filed two petitions before the Appellate Division against the dismissal, according to a news agency.