Late president Hussain Muhammad Ershad’s former wife Bidisha Ershad has appealed against a two-year jail sentence in a case filed over alleged cheating in the sale of a flat, but a Dhaka court on Wednesday rejected her bail petition.

Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge Md Shahjahan Kabir rejected the bail plea after hearing arguments from both sides.

Bidisha’s lawyers, led by Dhaka Bar Association president Anwar Zahid Bhuiyan, sought bail pending disposal of the appeal. Advocate Hemayet Uddin Khan Hiron, representing the complainant, opposed the plea.

‘An appeal has been filed against the sentence. We sought bail pending the appeal,’ Bidisha’s lawyer Md Mahmudul Kabir told reporters after the hearing.

He said they argued that Bidisha has a child with special needs and that she should be considered for bail as a woman.

The court, however, rejected the bail petition.

Another defence lawyer, Moniruzzaman Sabuj, said they would move the High Court seeking bail.

‘We sought bail in connection with the appeal, but the court rejected it. We will move the High Court,’ he said.

On May 20, Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Jamshed Alam sentenced Bidisha to two years’ imprisonment and fined her Tk 10,000. In default of payment, she would have to serve an additional month in jail.

As Bidisha was absconding, the court also issued an arrest warrant and a warrant for execution of the sentence.

Police arrested her from a restaurant in Gulshan around 8:30pm on August 25 on the basis of the warrant. She was produced before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court in Dhaka the following day.

Bidisha’s lawyers sought bail on the condition that she would appeal against the sentence. Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Aminul Islam Junaid, however, rejected the plea and ordered that she be sent to jail.

Businessman Mosharraf Hossain Sikder filed the case with Gulshan Police Station in 2008, alleging that Bidisha had cheated him over the sale of a flat at President Park in Baridhara.

According to the case statement, Mosharraf was looking to buy a flat in Baridhara. Bidisha, then the second wife of Ershad, showed him a flat at President Park and offered to sell it.

An agreement was subsequently reached for Tk 80 lakh, the complaint says.

On July 10, 2001, Bidisha allegedly asked Mosharraf to pay Tk 75 lakh through a pay order in the name of her nominee and friend Abdul Razzak. He paid the money through Standard Chartered Bank’s Kawran Bazar branch, according to the case.

A memorandum of understanding was later executed.

The complainant alleged that the flat was to be registered after payment of the remaining amount and approval from the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha. Although the flat was supposed to be handed over by July 10, 2002, it was not delivered, he alleged.

He further alleged that Bidisha later assured him that his money would be returned.

On February 9, 2005, she allegedly issued a Tk 72 lakh cheque. The cheque was dishonoured when presented because of insufficient funds in the account, according to the complaint.

Mosharraf alleged that Bidisha subsequently delayed repayment on various pretexts and failed either to hand over the flat or return his money. He also accused her of threatening to kill him through an alleged hired criminal.