The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has upheld the High Court's verdict acquitting BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, overturning her seven-year jail sentence and a fine of Tk 10 lakh in the Zia Charitable Trust corruption case.
A three-member bench of the Appellate Division, led by Justice Md Ashfaqul Islam, delivered the verdict on Monday.
Earlier, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) had filed a leave to appeal against the High Court's verdict, which acquitted Khaleda Zia in the Zia Charitable Trust case on November 27 last year. After the publication of the full verdict, the prosecution filed a leave to appeal last month.
The ACC filed the case on August 8, 2010, at Tejgaon Police Station, accusing Khaleda and three others of illegally transferring 3.15 crore taka (31.5 million) under the name of the Zia Charitable Trust.
On January 16, 2012, the investigation officer, ACC Deputy Director Harun-ur-Rashid, submitted a charge sheet against Khaleda Zia and three others. On March 19, 2014, Judge Basudev Roy of the Third Special Tribunal Court in Dhaka framed charges against the accused.
On October 29, 2018, Judge Md Akhtaruzzaman of Dhaka's Special Tribunal-5, located in the administrative building of the Central Jail in Old Dhaka, sentenced Khaleda to seven years of rigorous imprisonment in the case. He also imposed a fine of Tk 10 lakh, with an additional six-month sentence in case of default. The other three co-accused in the case received the same sentence.