High Court Condones 587 Days of Delay in Appeal for Zubaida Rahman

The High Court has condoned a delay of 587 days in filing an appeal by Dr. Zubaida Rahman, wife of BNP’s acting chairman Tarique Rahman, against her three-year sentence in a corruption case.

The order was passed on Tuesday (May 13) by the bench of Justice Md. Khizir Hayat in response to Zubaida Rahman’s petition.

The matter was confirmed to the media by BNP’s Legal Affairs Secretary, Barrister Kaiser Kamal, who said that Zubaida Rahman will now proceed with filing the appeal.

On September 26, 2007, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed a case with Kafrul Police Station in the capital against Tarique Rahman, Zubaida Rahman, and another individual, accusing them of concealing information about assets and acquiring wealth beyond known sources of income. The following year, a charge sheet was submitted to the court.

On August 2, 2023, the trial court delivered its verdict in the case, sentencing Tarique Rahman to nine years in prison and Zubaida Rahman to three years.

Along with the prison sentence, the court ordered the confiscation of assets worth Tk 27,493,087 that Tarique Rahman had allegedly acquired beyond his known income sources. Additionally, the court fined Tarique Rahman Tk 30 million and Zubaida Rahman Tk 3.5 million.

Following the fall of the Awami League government, the interim government suspended Zubaida Rahman’s sentence for one year on September 22 of last year, on the condition that she file an appeal.