Verdict in graft case against Tarique, Zubaida August 2

A Dhaka court has set August 2 for pronouncing judgment in a graft case filed against BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman and his wife Zubaida Rahman.

Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge Md Asaduzzaman set the date after placing of legal arguments concluded in the case on Thursday.

A total 43 witnesses out of 56 testified in the case.

Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on September 26, 2007, filed a case against Tarique Rahman, his wife Zubaida Rahman and mother-in-law Iqbal-Mand Banu for amassing illegal wealth of Tk 4.81 crore and concealing information about the asset, BSS reports.

The anti-graft body filed the charge-sheet in 2008. Zubaida in 2008 filed a petition with the High Court, pleading to quash the proceedings of the case. The High Court in the same year stayed the proceedings of the case, which was later upheld by the Appellate Division.

The High Court after holding final hearing on the matter, cancelled the plea of Zubaida on April 12, 2017. It had also asked her to appear before the trial court concerned within eight weeks. Zubaida later filed a leave to appeal petition against the High Court order.

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on April 13, 2022, scrapped Zubaida’s leave to appeal petition and upheld the High Court order.

On November 1, 2022, the lower court concerned issued arrest warrants against the couple after accepting the charges pressed against them. On February 6, 2023, the court issued a gazette asking the couple to appear before the court.