The High Court yesterday questioned the legality of a provision under which the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) has been collecting information about residents of the metropolitan area.

The court issued a rule upon the government to explain by a week as to why the provision of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police Rules and Regulations 2006 should not be declared unconstitutional and illegal.

The HC bench of Justice Syed Muhammad Dastagir Husain and Justice AKM Shahidul Huq came up with the rule following a writ petition filed by three Supreme Court lawyers, including Aynunnahar Siddiqua.

Petitioner's lawyer Aneek R Haque told The Daily Star that the police did not have authority to collect information about tenants under the rules. They could only take a specific step, he claimed.

The DMP on February 29 announced that it had been collecting “identification information” about landlords and tenants since November last year and asked all to provide such information by March 15.

On March 13, another HC bench rejected another petition that sought an order to stop the collection of tenants' information, saying that the DMP was allowed to take any step under DMP rules and regulations, 2006, to prevent terrorism and militant activities in the city.