Dhaka, Apr 21 (bdnews24.com) – A special judge's court on Wednesday has again postponed the date when charges will be framed in the Zia Orphanage Trust case.

Judge Mozammel Hossain set June 29 for a new hearing date following an application by defence lawyers for time.

Lawyers also told the court that an application to stay proceedings is now pending in the High Court, following a petition filed on Sept 15 by BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia and her son Tarique Rahman, the two main accused in the case.

The High Court on Feb 3 had ordered the trial court to take into consideration the lawyers' appeal for time until the High Court had dealt with the matter.

The case, filed on July 3 2008, accuses Khaleda, Tarique and four others of embezzling more than Tk 2 crore from the Zia Orphanage Trust, which allegedly existed "only on paper". The charge sheet was submitted on Aug 5 that year.

Others who were accused include late president Ziaur Rahman's nephew Mominur Rahman, former bureaucrat Dr Kamaludddin Siddiqui and former BNP MP Quazi Salimul Haq.

Khaleda, leader of the opposition, and a two-time former prime minister, and Tarique, senior vice-chairman of BNP, have both received bail in the case.

Tarique is currently residing in the UK.

None of the accused were present during Wednesday's proceedings.

Source: bdnews24.com

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