The Anti-Corruption Commission had no jurisdiction to file the Zia Charitable Trust graft case, in which BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia is one of the four accused, a defence counsel said yesterday.
Aminul Islam also told the Special Court-5 that the prosecution failed to prove that money came to the trust through "illegal and corrupt means", and thus all the accused should be acquitted.
Judge Md Akhteruzzaman of the court recorded arguments for the third day yesterday before adjourning the case proceedings until February 25 when the defence would resume their arguments.
“This is a private trust. It's my decision where I'll keep my money... the ACC has no jurisdiction to file a case over the trust issue," said Aminul. “The case is not the subject matter of ACC, and thus all the accused should be acquitted."
He said the caretaker government, which came to power after the BNP-led government,
did not find any irregularity in the trust but the "irregularities” were found when Awami League came to power in 2009.
ACC, represented by the prosecution, could not tell the sources of the money deposited to the trust. The money actually came from party leaders and donors, he said.
"The prosecution has to prove that the money came from illegal sources and I [for instance, an accused] have abused power [to obtain the money]. Until the prosecution is able to prove this with evidence, the case must fail," he added.
Citing several High Court and Supreme Court verdicts of Bangladesh and India, Aminul said there must be evidence on record that the accused obtained any amount of money through "illegal orcorrupt means".
He said the prosecution alleged that the money came to the trust from illegal sources but did not say where the money came from. None of the prosecution witnesses said the trust took money from them, he added. "So, the case does not stand," he said.
Aminul said the prosecution's charge that Khaleda Zia abused power as the prime minister to raise funds for the trust is false She opened the Bust not as a prime minister, but rather as an individual, "so this is a private trust".
"From the testimony of the prosecution witnesses, we could tell that nobody brought complaint against the trust." So the case is of "nil evidence", he said.
The ACC filed the case in August 2011 accusing four people including Khaleda Zia of abusing power to raise funds for the trust from unknown sources. The three other accused are Harris Chowdhury, Ziaul Islam Munna and Monirul Islam Khan. Of them, Harris is on the run.
On Tuesday, Mosharraf Hossain Kajal, public prosecutor of the case, completed closing arguments and sought the highest punishment, seven years' imprisonment, for the accused.
Yesterday, Aminul Islam, a defence counsel for Munna, started arguments after Khaleda appeared before the court at 11:25am.
He said similar cases have been filed against leaders of the ruling party. The High Court quashed a case against incumbent Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader filed by the ACC, simply because he was not interrogated during the investigation. "Whereas, this case has no base at all, but it still continues," Aminul said.
During cross-examination, Harun-or-Rashid, the complainant and the case's investigation officer, said he did not take one Sharifiil Islam's statement as he was dead, said Aminul. "Shariful Islam, a BNP leader from Kishoreganj, is still alive," said Aminul, adding, “He [IO] gave false informa-
tion [before the court]."
The defence counsel said the Zia Charitable Trust was originally formed in 1993 under Khaleda Zia's leadership. The then BNP leaders AQM Badruddoza Chowdhury and Matin Chowdhury were among its seven trustees. Then, the account of the trust was with Fakirapool branch of Sonali Bank, he said. But, the trust was formed afresh in 2005 as some of the trustees died while Badruddoza left BNP and the account of the trust was transferred to the Prime Minister's Office branch of the bank.
Refuting the defence's claims, Mosharraf Hossain Kajal, the case's public prosecutor, however, told reporters after the court proceedings that as per the document the trust was formed in 2005.
Kajal said the defence counsels not only challenged the jurisdiction of the ACC to file the case, but also challenged almost all the orders of the trial court, with the HC and the SC. But, no court gave a decision in their [defence] favour. They [prosecution] have been able to prove the charges with testimonies of 32 prosecution witnesses and other documents.
Later, the court adjourned the case proceedings until February 25. Kajal said the court gave the long adjournment considering the ongoing SSC examinations. The movement of Khaleda Zia and her security arrangement create traffic jams, so they sought long adjournment to avert the proceedings during the exams. The court usually holds hearing on Khaleda's case for three days in a week.
The same court on January 25 fixed February 8 for delivering the verdict in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case, in which Khaleda Zia and five others are accused.