Khaleda’s bail suspended till Mar 18

The Supreme Court (SC) has suspended till March the bail order of BNP chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia in Zia Orphanage Trust graft case.

A four-member bench of Appellate Division of SC headed by Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain passed the order on Wednesday.

The full bench of the Appellate Division gave the passing order after hearing two appeals filed by the state and the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) against a High Court order that granted bail to BNP chairperson in the case.

The High Court on Monday granted four-month bail to the BNP chairperson in the case, in which she was sentenced to five years imprisonment.

On February 8 last, the Dhaka Special Judge Court-5 sentenced Khaleda Zia to five-year imprisonment in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case.

It also sentenced other five accused, including Khaleda's elder son and BNP senior vice chairman Tarique Rahman, to 10-year imprisonment each.

The other persons who were convicted in the graft case are former lawmaker Kazi Salimul Haque Kamal, businessman Sharfuddin Ahmed, Dr Kamal Uddin Siddiqui and Khaleda's nephew Mominur Rahman.