The Supreme Court (SC) has extended till May 8 its earlier order that stayed a High Court (HC) verdict granting bail to BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia in the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case in which she was sentenced to five years jail.
A four-member bench of the Appellate Division of the apex court, headed by the Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain on Monday passed the order after hearing on two petitions filed by Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and the state.
Earlier on March 12, the HC granted 4 months’ bail to Khaleda Zia in the case.
On March 15, the government and the ACC filed separate leave-to-appeal petitions with the SC challenging the HC order that granted a four-month interim bail to Khaleda Zia in the case.
Following two separate petitions filed by the ACC and the government, the SC on March 14 stayed the HC order of bail till Sunday. The apex court also asked the ACC and government to file separate leave-to-appeal petitions with this court against the HC order by Sunday.
On February 8, a special court convicted former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and sentenced her to five years' rigorous imprisonment in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case.
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed the graft case with Ramna Police Station in July 2008, accusing the six of misappropriating over Tk 2.1 crore that came from a foreign bank as grants for orphans.