BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, who had been convicted in two cases and later released on an executive order on conditions, cannot go abroad for better treatment as there is no scope under the law. She will take medical treatment in the country.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said this at a press conference at his ministry office in the capital on Sunday following an application of the family of Khaleda Zia seeking  permission for taking her abroad for advanced treatment.

The home ministry has taken the decision on receiving the opinion of the law ministry on the files regarding Khaleda Zia’s treatment abroad. The law ministry sent its opinion to the home ministry on Sunday morning.

Law Secretary Md Golam Sarwar said that they sent the opinion to the home ministry through an official in the morning. Later, Law Minister Anisul Huq also told the reporters that there is no scope to give permission for BNP chief Khaleda Zia to take her abroad for medical treatment “We have given our legal opinion citing Section  401 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC),” he said.

It was also known that her doctors said that Khaleda Zia’s health might not be stable enough for a long flight.

Earlier, Shamim Eskander, younger brother of Khaleda Zia, met Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal at his residence in the capital and submitted the application to the minister on May 5 night.

After receiving the application, the home minister forwarded it to the law ministry.

Meanwhile, it was learnt that Khaleda Zia’s family was all set to send the former prime minister to London for treatment as  Khaleda Zia’s elder son Tarique Rahman lives there with his family.

The 76-year-old former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia tested positive for Covid-19 twice in a month — on April 10 and April 24. She was admitted to the Evercare Hospital on April 28 for some tests as part of her follow-up medical check-up. But after hospitalisation, her condition deteriorated and she was shifted to the coronary care unit with respiratory problems.

Khaleda Zia tested negative for the coronavirus infection on May 9, 27 days after contracting the disease. A 10-member medical panel led by Dr Shahabuddin Talukdar has been treating Khaleda Zia at the Evercare Hospital.

The BNP chief has been staying at her Gulshan residence since her release from jail on March 25 in 2020 on an executive order on conditions that she would take medical treatment at home and would not leave the country.

She  was sent to  jail on February 8 in 2018 after a special court sentenced her to five years imprisonment in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case. On October 30 in 2018, the High Court doubled her five-year jail term in the case.

She was also sentenced for seven years in jail in Zia Charitable Trust graft case on October 29 in 2018.