HC on case against Tarique-Zubaida
Staff Reporter :
The High Court has found that the corruption trial of BNP Acting Chairperson Tarique Rahman and his wife Dr Zubaida Rahman was tainted by significant procedural flaws and lacked fairness.
In its full 52-page judgment published on Monday, the High Court highlighted several irregularities, including the unusually swift recording of witness testimonies, inadequate notice to Dr Zubaida, and flawed charge framing procedures.
The verdict, delivered on 28 May by Justice Md Khasruzzaman, criticised the expedited handling of the case, noting that 42 witness statements were recorded in just two months and four days, with the verdict issued only eight days later – raising concerns about the integrity of the proceedings.
As a result, Dr Zubaida Rahman was acquitted of her three-year sentence, and Tarique Rahman’s nine-year sentence under two sections of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Act was
also overturned.
The court held that under Section 26(1) of the ACC Act, prior notice is mandatory before prosecuting someone for concealing wealth, and no such notice was served to Dr Zubaida. Therefore, her conviction could not be legally upheld.
Additionally, the court observed that the charges framed against the accused breached Section 221 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, rendering the entire trial legally untenable.
The judgment noted that aside from witnesses No. 1 and 42, the remaining testimonies came from seizure witnesses who failed to directly link the accused to the alleged undisclosed assets. As such, the prosecution did not establish its case beyond reasonable doubt.
Drawing from precedents in both Bangladesh and India, the court concluded that due to the cumulative procedural lapses, the trial process itself was invalid, and this benefit extended to Tarique Rahman, even though he did not file a separate appeal.
The Anti-Corruption Commission was represented by lawyer Asif Hasan. Senior advocates Zainul Abedin, S M Shahjahan, A M Mahbub Uddin Khokon, Ruhul Quddus Kajol, Kaiser Kamal, and Zakir Hossain Bhuiyan appeared on behalf of the appellants. Deputy Attorney General Mohammad Abdul Karim represented the state.
Barrister Kaiser Kamal said the full verdict validated their legal stance. “We argued that both Tarique Rahman and Dr Zubaida Rahman were denied justice. Justice hurried is justice buried – the lower court rushed through not only the witness hearings but the entire trial process,” he said.
Earlier, on 14 May, the High Court accepted Dr Zubaida’s appeal and granted her bail by suspending her sentence until the appeal’s resolution. The court also condoned a 587-day delay in filing the appeal.
The original case was lodged by the ACC at Dhaka’s Kafrul Police Station on 26 September 2007, accusing Tarique Rahman, Dr Zubaida Rahman, and her mother Syeda Iqbal Mand Banu of amassing illegal wealth and concealing information.
On 2 August 2023, the Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge’s Court sentenced Tarique Rahman to nine years in prison – three years under Section 26(2) and six years under Section 27(1) of the ACC Act – and fined him Tk 3 crore. Dr Zubaida was sentenced to three years under Section 27(1) and fined Tk 35 lakh. Her sentence was later suspended by executive order for one year.
Dr Zubaida returned to Bangladesh on 6 May this year after 17 years abroad, having left the country with her husband in September 2008. Her return was prompted by the deteriorating health of her mother-in-law, BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia.
