A Dhaka court has set September 20 as the day to deliver an order on whether the trial proceedings of the Zia Charitable Trust graft case will continue in the absence of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia.
Md Akhtaruzzaman of the Special Judges’ Court 5 set the date after holding a hearing on Thursday.
Khaleda's lawyer Sanaullah Mia and Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) lawyer Mosharraf Hossain participated in the hearing.
Meanwhile, Mosharraf filed a petition to set a verdict date for the case, instead of running the trail proceedings, since the BNP chief declined to appear in court.
Additionally, Sanaullah filed another plea to grant her bail in the case and seek the court’s permission to allow two of her lawyers to meet with Khaleda Zia to determine her physical condition.
The court granted Khaleda bail until September 20.
On Wednesday, the BNP chairperson declined to appear before the makeshift court inside the Old Dhaka Central Jail, for the hearing.
Also Read- Khaleda declines to appear before old Dhaka central jail court
That day, Khaleda's lawyers filed a petition, saying that the makeshift court inside the prison could not continue its proceedings without the permission of the Supreme Court.
On September 4, a gazette notification was issued by the Law Ministry regarding the shift in the location of the court from the makeshift court at Bakshibazar to Old Dhaka Central Jail.
The notification mentioned that the court had been moved inside the jail for security reasons.
In 2011, the ACC filed the case at Tejgaon police station against Khaleda, and three others, on charges of abusing power to raise funds from unknown sources for the trust.
The three others accused in the case are: Harris Chowdhury, political secretary of then prime minister Khaleda Zia between 2001 and 2006; Ziaul Islam Munna, assistant private secretary to Harris; and Monirul Islam Khan, APS to former Dhaka city mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka.