The High Court has acquitted BNP’s acting chairperson Tarique Rahman and his wife Zubaida Rahman in a corruption case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), overturning their earlier convictions.
Justice Khasruzzaman’s single-member bench passed the verdict on Wednesday, granting Zubaida’s appeal.
A lower court had sentenced Tarique Rahman to nine years and Zubaida Rahman to three years in prison in the case earlier.
The High Court observed that the ACC had filed the case against Zubaida Rahman without issuing a prior notice as required by law, rendering the filing unlawful.
It also said the entire proceedings of the case, from filing to trial, appeared to be “motivated by malice.” As a result, even though Tarique Rahman did not file an appeal, his conviction was also overturned and he was acquitted.
With this ruling, Tarique Rahman has been acquitted in all the cases in which he was convicted during the Awami League's tenure in government.
After being released from prison in 2008, Tarique Rahman travelled to London for advanced medical treatment. He was accompanied by his wife, Zubaida Rahman, and their daughter Zaima Rahman. They have not returned to Bangladesh since the Awami League assumed power.
On 5 August last year, following the fall of the Awami League government, the court granted relief to Tarique Rahman and his mother Khaleda Zia in several cases. On 2 October last year, Zubaida’s sentence in the corruption case was suspended for one year.
That government notification said: “The order of suspension of sentence was issued on the condition that an appeal be filed before the Dhaka Senior Special Judge's Court after surrendering.”
After 17 years in exile, Zubaida Rahman returned to Bangladesh from London on 6 May, accompanied by her mother-in-law. Her lawyers later filed an appeal with the High Court.
The appellate hearing in the case began on Thursday after reviewing the First Information Report (FIR), charge sheet, witness testimonies, and previous verdicts. During the hearing, the defence lawyers appealed for the acquittal of both Zubaida Rahman and Tarique Rahman.
Lawyers SM Shahjahan and Barrister Kayser Kamal appeared for Zubaida, while Asif Hasan represented the ACC.
The ACC had filed the case on September 26,2007 with Kafrul police station during the tenure of the caretaker government.
It accused Tarique Rahman, his wife Zubaida Rahman, and her mother Syeda Iqbal Mand Banu of concealing wealth information worth Tk4.82 crores and providing false statements. Zubaida and her mother were accused of aiding Tarique Rahman and concealing information.
Later that year, Tarique and Zubaida filed separate writ petitions challenging the legality of the case. The ACC submitted its charge sheet on March 31, 2008.
On August 2, 2023, Judge Md Asaduzzaman of the Dhaka Senior Special Judge’s Court and Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court sentenced Tarique Rahman to nine years and Zubaida Rahman to three years in prison. They were also fined.
On May 14, the High Court granted Zubaida bail after accepting her appeal against the three-year sentence. She had filed the appeal the previous day after the High Court pardoned a delay of 587 days in submission.
