Appellate Division declares Tarique's wife Zubaida a fugitive

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has said that the High Court violated the constitution in hearing the case of the fugitive accused Dr Zubaida Rahman, wife of BNP senior vice-chairman Tarique Rahman.

A full text of the judgment given by the Appellate Division was published on Wednesday dismissing the leave to appeal filed by Zubaida seeking dismissal of the case filed for acquiring assets from unknown sources.  

The Appellate Division also declared Zubaida a fugitive.

At the same time, the High Court gave extra benefits to Zubaida violation of the constitution, reads the judgment.

On April 13, a four-judge bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Hasan Foez Siddique dismissed the leave to appeal of Zubaida and delivered a brief judgment.

The judgment was written by Justice Borhanuddin. Appellate Division Justice Md Nuruzzaman and Justice M Enayetur Rahim and the Chief Justice agreed with the judgment.

As per the judgment, the judicial court did not take cognizance of the charges against Zubaida in the corruption case. "Where the charges were not taken into account, how did she apply for dismissal of the case under section 561A of the Code of Criminal Procedure?" asked the Appellate Division.

And when she filed the appeal without surrendering before the court, she was a fugitive in the eyes of the law. But a bench of the High Court has issued a rule suspending the trial of the case after hearing the plea of a fugitive, said Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan.

If a person or accused is a fugitive, he/she cannot file any writ, criminal case or any legal action except surrender. But the High Court has violated the law by giving more benefits to Zubaida Rahman, he added.

The Appellate Division further said all citizens are equal before the law and are entitled to equal protection of the law according to Article 27 of the Constitution. Judges of the Supreme Court of the country have taken an oath to conduct justice without fear or bias. In any case, the judiciary must adhere to this principle. The judiciary will not set a precedent that does not apply to everyone.

ACC filed the case against Tarique, his wife Zubaida and her mother Syeda Iqbal Mand Banu accusing them of amassing illegal wealth and concealing information in wealth statements, with Kafrul police station on September 26, 2007. The accused later filed a petition challenging the legality of the case proceedings.

Later in the same year, the High Court issued a rule suspending the proceedings on the application of Jobaida Rahman.

On April 12 in 2018, the High Court gave its judgment dismissing the rule issued to dismiss the case. At the same time, Zubaida Rahman was ordered to surrender before the court within eight weeks.

Zubaida then filed a leave to appeal in the Appellate Division against the judgment of the High Court.

Lawyers say Zubaida, living in the UK, is a fugitive in the case and will now have to go to jail after surrendering. She will then be able to appeal for bail.