Bangladesh Supreme Court today rejected the petitions of opposition leader Khaleda Zia, who challenged the legality of the appointment of a lower court judge who indicted her in two graft cases, paving the way for her trial on corruption charges.
Zia, 69, a two times former prime minister and leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), went to the court to seek a suspension of the proceedings, claiming that the judge who has been hearing her cases was appointed illegally.
But a five-member bench headed by Chief Justice Md Muzammel Hossain dismissed her appeals, allowing the trials to go ahead in a special court that deals with graft cases, bdnews24 reported.
On March 19, the court of Dhaka's Third Metropolitan Sessions Judge Basudeb Roy framed charges against eight including Khaleda and her elder son Tarique Rahman in the two cases accusing them of embezzling Tk 53 million (USD 6,77,000).
Khaleda, on May 12, challenged the legality of the appointment of 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 the judge's appointment.
Earlier the former prime minister had moved High Court challenging the indictment but her plea was dismissed.
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 Chief Justice 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.
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) in 2008 filed a case against six, including Khaleda and her son Tarique Rahman, for allegedly siphoning off Tk 21 million from the 'Zia Orphanage Trust' funds, which reportedly came from a foreign bank.
Charges were pressed against them two years later.
The national anti-graft agency started prosecution against the four by submitting a chargesheet against them in 2012.
Proceedings in the cases were conducted in a special court on Alia Madrasa ground in Dhaka.
The other four accused in the Zia Orphanage Trust case are former BNP MP Salimul Haq Kamal, businessman Sharfuddin Ahmed, former secretary at PMO Kamal Uddin Siddique and Ziaur Rahman's nephew Mominur Rahman.
