The High Court on Monday set May 28 for delivering its verdict in the appeal filed by BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman鈥檚 wife Zubaida Rahman challenging a lower court decision that had sentenced her to three years in prison in absentia allegedly for abetting her husband in amassing illegal wealth.
The court, on the same day, will also decide whether to uphold or overturn Tarique Rahman鈥檚 six-year sentence, imposed for accumulating Tk 2.74 crore beyond his known sources of income, as part of the same verdict.
Zubaida鈥檚 counsel SM Shajahan told the court that this was the only active conviction currently pending against Tarique, who has been living in London for the past 17 years.
He pointed out that at least three or four previous convictions, including the life-term sentence in the August 21 grenade attack cases, against the BNP leader were scrapped following appeals filed by his co-accused.
The HC bench of Justice Md Khasruzzaman fixed the date after hearing arguments in the case.
On May 13, the court condoned a 587-day delay in filing Zubaida鈥檚 appeal, allowing her plea for pardon. A convict has a right to file an appeal within 30 days of the conviction.
Shajahan argued that, despite 17 years of investigation during the Awami League regime, there was no trace of any foreign assets in Tarique鈥檚 name.
He labelled the charges as politically motivated, stemming from the military-backed caretaker regime鈥檚 anti-corruption drive in 2007鈥�2008.
The Anti-Corruption Commission had alleged that Tarique and Zubaida concealed information about a Tk 35 lakh fixed deposit, which Zubaida claimed was a gift from her mother, derived from house rent income.
ACC lawyer Asif Hasan stated that it was up to the court to determine whether the inheritance constituted criminal concealment or fell within permissible personal assets.
The original case was filed on September 26, 2007, by the then ACC deputy director Mohammad Zahirul Huda with Dhaka鈥檚 Kafrul Police Station. The charges accused Tarique of concealing wealth worth Tk 2.16 crore in his asset declaration to the ACC, and illegally acquiring an additional Tk 2.74 crore. Zubaida was accused of abetting the concealment.
She was convicted in absentia by Dhaka鈥檚 senior special judge Md Asaduzzaman in August 2023, while living abroad since 2008. She returned to Dhaka on May 6, 2025, accompanying BNP chairperson and her mother-in-law Khaleda Zia.
Ahead of her return, the government鈥攖hrough the Security Services Division of the Ministry of Home Affairs鈥攊ssued an executive order suspending Zubaida鈥檚 sentence for one year, on the condition that she surrender and file an appeal.
Tarique, arrested on March 8, 2007, during the anti-corruption drive, was released on bail in September 2008 and has remained in self-imposed exile in the United Kingdom since then.
