Staff Correspondent:

The High Court on Wednesday granted bail to Dr Zubaida Rahman, wife of BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman, in a graft case.

The bail will remain in force until the disposal of a petition she filed with the High Court challenging a lower court verdict that sentenced her to three years in jail.

The bench of Justice Md Khasruzzaman also stayed the financial penalty imposed on her in the case.

Earlier, on Tuesday, Zubaida filed the petition against her jail sentence. The court accepted it for hearing and condoned a 587-day delay in filing the appeal.

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

Following her petition, the Security Services Division under the Ministry of Home Affairs issued a gazette on September 22 last year, suspending her sentence for one year 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, and stayed there for around 17 years before returning home on May 6 this year.

Her appeal was included in the High Court’s cause list on Tuesday (May 13).

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed the case against the couple and another person on September 26, 2007, with Kafrul Police Station in the capital for amassing illegal wealth and concealing asset information. The charges were framed the following year.