For all latest news, follow The Financial Express Google News channel.
Four lawyers have been denied permission to represent ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina in corruption trials concerning the Purbachal plot scandal as she is legally classified as a fugitive under Bangladesh law.
In a bid “to uphold justice and the rule of law”, lawyers Morshed Hossain Shahin, Imran Hossain, Sheikh Farid, and Md Tapu submitted applications to Dhaka's Special Judge’s Court No. 4, where three of the six cases related to the matter are being heard.
But their petition was rejected on Thursday by Judge Rabiul Alam, as per a bdnews24.com report.
Anti-Corruption Commission prosecutor Ahmed Ali Salam explained that in cases brought by the agency, no legal representation is permitted on behalf of a fugitive defendant, even if requested.
“We had applied to be appointed as Sheikh Hasina’s lawyers at our own expense. The court rejected our applications,” Shahin said.
The cases stem from allegations that Hasina and six of her family members benefited from irregular allocations of six plots, totalling 60 kathas, in the Purbachal New Town project.
The accused include Hasina's son Sajeeb Wazed Joy, daughter Saima Wazed Putul, sister Sheikh Rehana, and Rehana’s children -- British MP Tulip Rizwana Siddiq, Radwan Mujib Siddiq, and Azmina Siddiq.
The ACC launched investigations in December 2024 and filed six separate corruption cases in early 2025.
The court has already issued arrest warrants for Hasina and her family as they remain at large.
Witness testimony in three of the cases began in August, with next hearings scheduled for later this month.
Hasina was ousted in a student-led mass uprising in August 2024 and sought refuge in India. Since then, she has been tried in absentia, with the Purbachal corruption cases being a part of a broader anti-graft campaign targeting her and her family.