The case was filed with the apex appellate division of the Supreme Court against the cabinet secretary and top officials of defence and home ministries, the cantonment board and the Inter Service Public Relations (ISPR) of the armed forces, Court officials and Zia's lawyers said.
The BNP has charged that the eviction came at a time when Zia's plea on the issue was pending before the apex court for hearing."Chamber Judge of the Appellate Division Justice S K Sinha accepted the petition and referred it for hearing on November 29 along with her (Zia's) pending leave to appeal prayer seeking to retain the cantonment house," a Supreme Court official said.
The development came as the cantonment residence issue has become a focal point of politics in the country, with BNP overnight calling for a second nationwide general strike on November 30 after a week of protests against Zia's "eviction".The government has claimed that the eviction was led by a legal obligation for compliance with a High Court order that had validated a government decision to oust her from the house.
The opposition called the government action an act of "disrespect" for the apex court as their leave to appeal petition was pending there for hearing on November 29.
Hours after her eviction from the cantonment residence, a teary-eyed Zia appeared before the media and said she was humiliatingly forced to come out in single clothes from the house, which she was allotted under a controversial lease agreement 29 years ago after her husband president Ziaur Rahman's assassination in 1981.
After the eviction the main opposition party promised to launch an all out campaign to oust the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Zia's arch rival, and charged that the ruling Awami League was trying to "eliminate BNP".
Several leading lawyers and experts said Zia's lawyers also contributed to the debacle as they did not seek an apex court order for staying the High Court verdict while approaching with the appeal petition.
Legal experts also simultaneously observed that the government should have waited until November 29, when the appeal hearing on the house was set to be held.BNP on Sunday expelled one of its stalwarts and ex-minister Nazmul Huda, a lawyer by profession, after he said the "debacle" was caused because of the "mishandling" of the case by Zia's 'learned lawyers' and criticised the party for calling the general strike protesting the "eviction".
Huda, who was a vice chairman of BNP, was also critical of Zia's media appearance following the eviction, which he felt was "compromising her dignity".