Editorial
Journalists allowed back in court
CJ's intervention heartening
WE welcome the Chief Justice's waiving of the restriction on journalists in regard to covering the hearing on the appeal against the stay order pertaining to Dhaka-10 by-election. The presiding Judge of the Special Bench of the Appellate Division, constituted to hear the appeal, had imposed the restriction on the journalists, on the first day of its hearing. We reiterate and restate the close, symbiotic relationship that the highest judiciary and the independent press have had. It is our conviction that wherever democracy has fructified and flourished it has done so primarily because of the very close and complementary relationship between the judiciary and the press. We should make constant efforts to ensure that no faultlines in this relationship ever develop. The importance of an independent judiciary and a free press cannot be stressed enough. In fact, both these institutions complement each other. We look forward to a vigorous, enlightened and energetic support of the judiciary in upholding freedom of the press and the constitutional right of the people to know. The judiciary's support for free speech and the people's right to information has been a well-established and a time-tested tradition. We are only too aware of the role of the judiciary as the last resort of people's constitutional rights and a shield for the free press against onslaughts it has been subject to in the process of fulfilling its sacred duty of keeping the people informed. Should such a tradition be breached at any time, it is the judiciary and the press that would be the loser. Consequently, our national interest would suffer the most.
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