The High Court bench of Justices Quazi Reza-Ul Hoque and Mohammad Khasruzzaman ordered the postponement of hearing on the two petitions by Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chief over the cases related to Zia Orphanage Trust and Zia Charitable Trust by a week.
The petitions seeking a change of judge and stay on the arrest warrant will be taken up by the court on March 12, BD News reported.
Earlier, she had challenged the validity of the appointment of the judge and his right to frame charges. The High Court scrapped both of them.
Dhaka's Third Special Judges Court issued an arrest warrant for the BNP chief on February 25 after she failed to turn up in several consecutive hearings.
Also Read
Her lawyers asked the High Court for a stay on the warrants on Tuesday.
It also asked the trial court for withdrawal of the warrant but the court yesterday only included the pleas to the case documents.
Additional Attorney General Mamtaz Uddin Fakir said, "The two petitions for change of judge are the key ones here. Since the cases in question are under the ACC act, they cannot be heard here. We told the court that the pleas are not acceptable as she is in hiding.
The BNP chief is accused of embezzling nearly USD 650,000 in the two corruption cases during her last term as prime minister from 2001 to 2006 and could be jailed for life if proved guilty.
Meanwhile, the High Court said it will deliver its verdict on March 10 on a petition filed by Zia seeking to scrap another pending corruption case related to awarding of a contract of a coal mine to a foreign company while she was in power from 2001 to 2006.