প্রকাশ: 02/06/2022
The Appellate
Division of the Supreme Court has said that the High Court violated the
constitution in hearing the case of the fugitive accused Dr Zubaida Rahman,
wife of BNP senior vice-chairman Tarique Rahman.
A full text of the judgment given by the Appellate Division
was published on Wednesday dismissing the leave to appeal filed by Zubaida
seeking dismissal of the case filed for acquiring assets from unknown sources.
The Appellate Division also declared Zubaida a fugitive.
At the same time, the High Court gave extra benefits to
Zubaida violation of the constitution, reads the judgment.
On April 13, a four-judge bench of the Appellate Division
headed by Chief Justice Hasan Foez Siddique dismissed the leave to appeal of
Zubaida and delivered a brief judgment.
The judgment was written by Justice Borhanuddin. Appellate
Division Justice Md Nuruzzaman and Justice M Enayetur Rahim and the Chief
Justice agreed with the judgment.
As per the judgment, the judicial court did not take
cognizance of the charges against Zubaida in the corruption case. "Where
the charges were not taken into account, how did she apply for dismissal of the
case under section 561A of the Code of Criminal Procedure?" asked the
Appellate Division.
And when she filed the appeal without surrendering before
the court, she was a fugitive in the eyes of the law. But a bench of the High
Court has issued a rule suspending the trial of the case after hearing the plea
of a fugitive, said Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan.
If a person or accused is a fugitive, he/she cannot file any
writ, criminal case or any legal action except surrender. But the High Court
has violated the law by giving more benefits to Zubaida Rahman, he added.
The Appellate Division further said all citizens are equal
before the law and are entitled to equal protection of the law according to
Article 27 of the Constitution. Judges of the Supreme Court of the country have
taken an oath to conduct justice without fear or bias. In any case, the
judiciary must adhere to this principle. The judiciary will not set a precedent
that does not apply to everyone.
ACC filed the case against Tarique, his wife Zubaida and her
mother Syeda Iqbal Mand Banu accusing them of amassing illegal wealth and
concealing information in wealth statements, with Kafrul police station on
September 26, 2007. The accused later filed a petition challenging the legality
of the case proceedings.
Later in the same year, the High Court issued a rule suspending
the proceedings on the application of Jobaida Rahman.
On April 12 in 2018, the High Court gave its judgment
dismissing the rule issued to dismiss the case. At the same time, Zubaida
Rahman was ordered to surrender before the court within eight weeks.
Zubaida then filed a leave to appeal in the Appellate
Division against the judgment of the High Court.
Lawyers say Zubaida, living in the UK, is a fugitive in the
case and will now have to go to jail after surrendering. She will then be able
to appeal for bail.
- UNB
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