Section 86 of DMP Ordinance challenged
A High Court Division special bench comprising Justice MA Matin
and Justice Syed Refat Ahmed has issued a rule nisi on the government
to show cause within three weeks why Section 86 of the Dhaka Metropolitan
Police (DMP) Ordinance would not be declared to be without lawful authority
and of no legal effect, being ultra vires of the Constitution. The court
passed the order after hearing a writ petition challenging the wholesale
and arbitrary arrests of citizens from April 18 onwards, resulting in
abuse of power and authority by the law enforcement agencies under Section
86 of the DMP Ordinance and Section 54 of the Code of Criminal Procedure
(CrPC). The petition was filed by Sultana Kamal for Ain O Salish Kendra,
Farida Yasmin for the Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust, Habiba
Akhter for Karmajibi Nari and Abdus Salam for the Jatiya Ainjibi Parishad,
The petition was first moved before a High Court bench of Justice Shah
Abu Nayeem Mominur Rahman and Justice Zobayer Rahman Chowdhury. The
bench refused to entertain the petition because of a huge number of
pending and new cases. The petitioners then moved the petition to another
bench of Justice Md Joynul Abedin and Justice Sharifuddin Chaklader.
The bench told the petitioners that the petition had already lost its
cause of action, as the government had ordered police to stop the mass
arrests. The petitioners then applied to Chief Justice Syed JR Modassir
Hossain to take appropriate steps for hearing the case and he constituted
the special bench, which heard the petition and passed the order.
- NewAge, 28 April.
Contempt
plea rejected
The High Court Division has summarily rejected plea of a city magistrate
to draw contempt proceedings against a UNB reporter for writing that
she (magistrate) stood up and saluted a minister as he entered the court
in a defamation suit. Editors and publishers of The Daily Star and Bhorer
Kagoj were also charged for publication of the United News of Bangladesh
(UNB) report. "The reporter had no intention to belittle the court,
rather the intention to protect practice of the court...We do not find
any elements of contempt of court," observed Justice M A Matin
and Justice Shamim Hasnain in their order rejecting the reference. Magistrate
Khandker Fatema Begum, following the report published on 29 September
2003 herself initiated a case and forwarded to the High Court for drawing
contempt proceedings against Faruk Quazi, senior reporter of UNB, saying
the report is a punishable offence under the Contempt of Court Act 1926.
Quazi had reported that lawyers, court officials and litigants at a
metropolitan court were surprised when magistrate Khandker Fatema Begum
stood up and saluted Minister for Housing and Public Works Mirza Abbas
as he appeared there as plaintiff of a defamation case on 28 September
2003. - Daily Star, 3 May.
Cabinet
okays 14th amendment
The cabinet has approved a bill for the 14th amendment to the constitution
proposing nine changes including 45 reserved seats for women in parliament.
The changes also include display of the portraits of the president and
the prime minister at government offices and enhancement of the retirement
age of Supreme Court judges, chairman and members of the Public Service
Commission and the comptroller and auditor general. If the bill is passed
by parliament, the retirement age of the Supreme Court judges will rise
to 67 from 65, PSC chairman's and members' to 65 from 62 and auditor
general's to 65 from 60. The constitutional amendment bill is expected
to be passed in the second week of May when the Jatiya Sangsad meets
again. The bill also proposes to automatically dissolve all elected
local bodies on completion of the five-year tenure to clear way for
regular elections every five years and quickly swear-in lawmakers-elect.
- Daily Star, 27 April
ADR
council soon
The country's first-ever alternative dispute resolution (ADR) council
for commercial cases will start functioning soon. The Federation of
Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) is going to set
up the council to resolve commercial disputes. In view of huge backlog
of cases and delay in the adversarial and formal justice system, the
apex trade body recently decided to set up the Bangladesh Council of
Arbitration (BCA). The Rules of Arbitration of the BCA have been formulated
under the Arbitration Act, 2001 and these are of international standard.
However, under the Arbitration Act the BCA is not bound to follow the
provisions of the code of civil procedure or evidence act. Under the
act, any award of the council shall be final and become a binding for
all parties. The BCA will maintain a panel of arbitrators consisting
of many dignitaries and personalities having expertise in different
fields and ample knowledge on arbitration. Parties will have the freedom
of choosing arbitrator from the panel of arbitrators, unless otherwise
agreed by the parties. To ensure world class arbitration service, the
BCA will have agreements with different private and government organisations
and institutions, at home and abroad, with technical and practical knowledge
on ADR. The council would also organise workshops, seminars, symposiums
and training programmes to encourage the business community to adopt
ADR to settle their disputes. The BCA would also provide advisory services
to the interested business organisations. -Daily Star, 26 May.
Policy
for ship-breaking sector sought
Speakers at a consultation meeting stressed on formulation of a comprehensive
policy guideline for the ship-breaking industry to protect rights and
interest of the workers as well as for the sake of the industry's proper
growth. They also opined that the industry had tremendous economic prospect
after readymade garments as it has vast export hinterland and could
earn huge foreign exchange by exporting construction materials and steels
to some neighbouring countries particularly the north-eastern states
of India if the sector is developed in a disciplined manner. While experts
and human rights activists at the meeting were advocating for the protection
of human rights of the workers and changes in the mindset of shipyard
owners in terms of payment of wages to them and compensation to the
victims, owners strongly requested the government to recognise the sector
as industry so that the booming industry flourished in a more disciplined
way. -NewAge, 25 April.
Anti-corruption
officer suspended
Md Ahsan Ali, an anti-corruption officer in Joypurhat district, has
been suspended on charge of misconduct and corruption. The Prime Minister's
Office issued a suspension order against the officer on April 26.
The preliminary investigation by the Bureau of Anti-Corruption (BAC)
suggested that Ahsan Ali was involved in corruption while he worked
as a district anti-corruption officer in Manikganj. The bureau conducted
the investigation after some national dailies published reports of allegations
against him. A departmental case has also been filed against him. -
Daily Star, 29 April.
HC
fines RU authorities
The High Court Division
of Bangladesh Supreme Court has fined Rajshahi University authorities
Tk 5000 as it has delayed in responding to an application of a student
complaining of giving less number in one of the papers of LLB honours
final examination in 1999. The division bench comprising Justice ABM
Khairul Haque and Justice Miftah Uddin said ignoring of an application
by RU is illegal and condemnable.
The court directed the university authorities to re-examine the answer
paper within one month after it receives the copy of the hearing. The
verdict came following the filing of a writ petition with the High Court
in 2002. The complainant Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan got second class first
position in the examination with only 32 marks in Administrative Law.
So, he applied to the vice-chancellor on October 24, 2000 to have his
answer paper re-examined. But having no response from the university
authorities, he filed the writ petition. - Prothom Alo, 27 April
