Tarique, Zubaida acquitted in graft case

The HC bench of Justice Md Khasruzzaman passed the order after hearing the appeal petition.

Advocate SM Shahjahan, Kaisar Kamal and Zakir Hossain Bhuiya stood for the petitioner while Adovate Asif Hasan and Deputy Attorney General Mohamamd Abdul Karim represented the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and the state respectively.

Earlier on Monday, the High Court fixed today for hearing the petition.

Besides, Tarique, who was earlier sentenced to nine years in the same case — has also been acquitted by the court.

Speaking to reporters Advocate Shahjahan said that none of the properties attributed to Tarique  were acquired through illegitimate means or beyond his known sources of income.

"Not a single taka or property (of the couple) is located outside Bangladesh. The family has no address abroad," he said.

"The residence on Mainul Road in the cantonment was allocated to the family of martyred President Ziaur Rahman.

Yet, in this case, the ACC has claimed that it is an illegally acquired asset of Tarique. In reality, it was allotted following the due governmental procedures. There is also another property in Gulshan, officially allotted with a documented value of only Tk 33.

“Despite this, Tarique was convicted in the case. In my legal career, I have never seen such a mockery of justice”, he said.

Regarding Tarique’s acquittal, Shahjahan further said, “We informed the court that Zubaida Rahman’s appeal is currently under consideration. She followed proper legal procedures in filing her appeal. We cited precedents, such as the August 21 grenade attack case, the Giasuddin Al Mamun case and the Zia Orphanage and Charitable Trust cases, where Tarique Rahman had not appealed. But we submitted before the Chief Justice’s bench that if the charges are not proven in a case and the appellant is acquitted, then the same benefit should extend to a non-appellant co-accused. The court accepted this submission."

 “Tarique Rahman has already been acquitted in 3–4 such cases. We submitted that if the court finds in Zubaida Rahman’s appeal that none of the assets in question were illegally acquired or beyond known sources of income, and if she is acquitted, then Tarique Rahman should also be granted the benefit of acquittal — even without a separate appeal. There are legal precedents for such decisions,” he said.

“The court agreed, and we will submit the relevant documents on Wednesday. We are hopeful that justice will prevail, and both Zubaida Rahman and her husband Tarique Rahman will be acquitted,” Shahjahan concluded.

On May 14, Zubaida filed the petition with the HC seeking to overturn her sentence. The court accepted the petition for hearing and condoned a 587-day delay in filing the appeal.

On August 2, 2023, a Dhaka court sentenced Tarique  to nine years in prison and Zubaida to three years in a case related to amassing wealth illegally and concealing information.

On September 22 last year, the Security Services Division under the Ministry of Home Affairs issued a gazette suspending Zubaida’s sentence for one year, following her petition and with the consent of the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs.

Zubaida had left the country with her husband for London on September 11, 2008, where she lived for nearly 17 years before returning to Bangladesh on May 6 this year.

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed the case against the couple and another individual on September 26, 2007, at Dhaka’s Kafrul Police Station for concealing wealth information and amassing illegal assets, reports UNB.