SC upholds Begum Zia's acquittal in Zia Charitable Trust case

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has upheld the High Court’s (HC) verdict acquitting BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia in the Zia Charitable Trust corruption case.

A three-judge bench, led by Justice Md Ashfaqul Islam, delivered the verdict on Monday morning (March 3).

Lawyer Asif Hossain represented the ACC in court today, while Additional Attorney General Barrister Anik R Haque appeared for the state. On the other side, Barrister Kaiser Kamal, Barrister Ruhul Quddus Kajol, and others defended Khaleda Zia.

Earlier, the Appellate Division set Monday (March 3) for hearing the appeal filed by the state and the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) against the High Court's verdict issued on Sunday.

The ACC filed the Zia Charitable Trust case at Tejgaon Police Station in Dhaka on August 8, 2010, accusing illegal transfer of 3.15 crore 43 thousand taka in the trust's name.

Later on October 19, 2018, Dhaka's Special Judge Court-5 sentenced Khaleda Zia and three other accused to seven years in prison and imposed fines.

The other accused were include Khaleda Zia's former political secretary, the late Haris Chowdhury, his private secretary Ziaul Islam Munna, and Monirul Islam Khan, the private secretary of the late former mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka. Later, all except Haris Chowdhury filed filed appeals to the High Court.

After the political situation changed on August 5 last year, the High Court acquitted Khaleda Zia in the case on November 27. Following this, the ACC and the state recently filed an appeal against the verdict.