HC asks govt not to harass Dr Kamal until Jan 10
Unb, Dhaka
The vacation bench of the High Court yesterday ordered the government not to arrest or harass noted jurist Dr Kamal Hossain, charged with involvement in vandalism at the Supreme Court, until the reopening of courts on January 10.The directive came when Dr Kamal, one of the accused in the November 30 Supreme Court vandalism case, sought ad-interim anticipatory bail after surrendering before the HC bench. The single-member bench of Justice Mir Hasmat Ali conducted the court proceedings at his residence instead of his High Court ejlash due to a countrywide blockade enforced by the Awami League-led grand alliance. Earlier, on December 10, a division bench of the HC granted ad-interim anticipatory bail to the other accused. Among them are Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Amir-Ul Islam, Bar Council Vice-chairman Rokanuddin Mahmud and Adv Subrata Chowdhury in connection with the SC vandalism case filed by Barrister Omar Sadat, son-in-law of former BNP minister Shahjahan Siraj. The vandalism took place following stay orders by the chief justice upon public-interest writ petitions minutes before issuance of rule by a High Court division bench. Leaders of the Awami League-led 14-party combine and some rights groups filed the writ petitions challenging the legitimacy of the president assuming the office of chief adviser of non-party caretaker government. Mahmudul Islam, a former attorney general, appeared for Dr Kamal Hossain.
| 
