Judge Mohammad Amirul Islam of the First Additional District and Sessions Judge's Court passed the order and set the date after scrutinising the copy of the High Court (HC) judgement delivered on December 14 last year and other relevant documents of the case.

Justice Faisal Mahmud Faizee of the single-member HC bench handed Ershad two years' imprisonment rejecting his appeal against the trial court's verdict.

Faizee in his verdict asked Ershad to surrender before the trial court without specifying any time or date.

Judge Jinnatara of the trial court sentenced Ershad to three years' imprisonment on July 6, 1995. The court also fined him Tk 10,000 and in default, he will have to serve four more months in jail.

The same year Ershad filed an appeal with the HC against the lower court verdict.

HM Ershad, who usurped power through a bloodless coup in March 1982 and was deposed in December 1990, was found guilty of misappropriating Tk 33 crore in a shady deal for purchasing 520 Japanese boats and 10 water-purifying machines for relief operation in 1989.