BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia is unlikely to get bail in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case before Sunday as the High Court on Thursday deferred the hearing until then on a petition filed by her lawyers seeking bail in the case.
The court, however, accepted for hearing another petition of the BNP chief filed challenging the trial court verdict sentencing her to five years’ imprisonment in the case and stayed the fine of Tk 21 million slapped by the lawyer court on her.
It asked the lower court to submit all the documents relating to the judgment before it within 15 days.
The HC bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Shahidul Karim passed the orders after hearing two petitions.
After hearing, the court accepted the petition against the lower court judgment and deferred the hearing on the bail petition until 2pm on Sunday.
Earlier in the morning, the BNP chief filed a separate petition with the High Court seeking bail in the case.
Barrister Nowshad Jamir and Barrister Kaiser Kamal, on behalf of the BNP chief, submitted the 880-page bail petition in the morning showing 31 grounds for granting her bail.
On Tuesday, lawyers of the BNP chairperson filed an appeal with the High Court challenging her sentence in the graft case. The court fixed Thursday for hearing it.
On February 8 last, the Dhaka Special Court-5 convicted the former Prime Minister and BNP chairperson and sentenced her to five years' imprisonment in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case.
She was then sent to old central jail at Nazimuddin Road in the capital.