The High Court is likely to hear on Sunday a petition filed by BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia seeking bail in the Zia Charitable Trust corruption case. The HC bench of Justice Obaidul Hassan and Justice AKM Zahirul Huq asked Khaleda’s lawyers to come up on Sunday, saying the case will be kept on the regular cause list of the day.

Khaleda’s counsel Khandaker Mahbub Hossain placed the petition before the HC bench in the morning. Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) lawyer Khurshid Alam was present there. On Tuesday, the BNP chief filed the fresh petition with the High Court seeking bail in the case, citing illness.

It was mentioned in the petition that the BNP chairperson is seriously ill and she needs advanced treatment. “Khaleda is not getting proper treatment at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU). She wants to go to London for better treatment if she gets bail.”

On December 12, 2019, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court turned down the bail petition of Khaleda Zia in the graft case. A special court jailed the BNP chief and three others for seven years in the corruption case on October 29, 2018.

On August 8, 2011, the Anti-Corruption Commission filed the Zia Charitable Trust case with Tejgaon police against four people, including Khaleda. They were accused of abusing power in raising funds for the trust from unknown sources. The former prime minister has been in prison since February 8, 2018 after she was sentenced to jail for five years in a separate corruption case.