The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has filed a leave to appeal petition before the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court challenging the High Court decision to grant bail to BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case.
ACC lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan filed the petition before the apex court on Thursday.
He said it sought the continuation of the stay order on the four-month interim bail issued to the BNP chief by the Supreme Court on Wednesday, until the leave to appeal is disposed of.
The apex court also asked the petitioners to file a regular leave to appeal petition by Sunday.
Khaleda Zia was sentenced to five years in prison by the Dhaka Special Court-5 on February 8 for her role in the embezzlement of funds from a charitable trust set up in the name of her late husband, Ziaur Rahman.
She was sent to old central jail at Nazimuddin road in the capital, but filed a petition with the High Court seeking bai on February 22.
Three days later, Khaleda failed to secure bail in the case as the High Court said it would pass an order on her bail petition upon receiving all the documents relating to the judgment from the lower court.
She was granted the interim bail on Monday, after the documents had been received.
In response, Advocate Sufia Khatun filed a petition on behalf of the state while lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan lodged another one on behalf of the ACC.
On Tuesday, Appellate Division Chamber Judge Justice Hasan Foez Siddique sent the two petitions to the full bench of the division without passing any order.
Monday, March 17, 2025
