<%-- Page Title--%> Law Week <%-- End Page Title--%>

August 17, 2003 

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has discharged Information Minister Tariqul Islam from Udichi bomb case. In 1999, two bombs blasted at an open concert at the conference of the Udichi Shilpa Gosthi (cultural group) in Jessore Town Hall Maidan, killing 10 people. Police filed a murder case without naming Tariqul Islam. But the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) pressed charges against him. The court also framed charges against him. Tariqul Islam filed a revision and an appeal petition with the High Court Division, seeking acquittal when the trial was going on at the Jessore District and Sessions' Judge's Court. He also challenged the court order that did not clear him of the charges. But the HC rejected his plea. Then the minister filed a leave to appeal petition against the HC order with the Appellate Division. The Appellate Division granted the leave and stayed proceedings of the case till disposal of the appeal. At last the full bench of the Appellate Division heard the petition and exempted Tariqul Islam from the charge. -Prothom Alo, 14 August.

Mock trial for violence against women

After its three days functioning the South Asia Court of women finished its Dhaka programme. The court was hosted at the Bangladesh China Friendship Centre by Unnoyan Bikplper Niti Nirdharny Gobeshona (UNIBIG) and Narigrantha Prabartana as part of world wide initiative taken by the Asian Women Human Rights Council (AWHRC) in Partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Highlighting the four major circumstantial insecurities for women in South Asia the testifiers women and children either trafficked or infected with HIV/AIDS- described their myriad ordeals of how these insecurities were linked to trafficking and its subsequent links to HIV/AIDS. UNIBIG Bangladesh representative Farida Akhter said the court is to encourage the protection of women from exploitation as they migrate or 'move' due to the compelling insecurities faced by South Asian Women. She hopes that the tales of sufferings and the resilience of the testifiers would inspire and positively inform other suppressed women in South Asia. -Law Desk.

UK court fines Beximco

A British court has slapped US$ 20million in fine on Beximco and asked the group to pay up another US$ 30million in loans and interest. Beximco obtained US$ 30 million in loans from the Bahrain-based Shamil Bank in 1996 and then defaulted on payments in 1999. Failing to realise the loans, Shamil Bank took Beximco to the British court and got the ruling. Beximco contested the case, saying that the transaction was in effect an interest bearing loan, which had been dressed up by the Shamil Bank. The court said that it was clear that the intentions of the parties was not to ask a secular court to derive answers to their legal issue from religious writings. There would be great controversy otherwise, since a secular English court was not suited to determining principles of disputed religious law. It said that what the defence contended for was largely a lawyer's construct and was not arguable. -Daily Star, 11 August.

Joinal Hazari sentenced

Former Awami League lawmaker Joynal Abedin Hazari and his accomplice Farooq Hossain Mridha have been sentenced to life imprisonment in an arms case. Md. Feroze Alam, Judge of the District and Session Judge's Court, Feni deliverd the verdict. Feni Police filed the case against Joynal Hazari and Farooq follwing a raid at 'Shaila Kutir' of Joinal Hazari in the town in his absence on 17August 2001 during the caretaker government. In that raid conducted by Joint forces huge arms and ammunition including a rifle , two loaded revolvers, a sub-machine gun magazine, 431 bullets, lethal weapons, and some other contraband items were recovered. It can be mentioned here that forty criminal cases have been filed against Hazari since 1970. Twenty-four of them floundered in the absence of the plaintiff or witnesses or while 15 are in the process of or under trial. -Prothom Alo, 11 August.

Appellate division expunges HC observation

The Appellate Division expunged part of a High Court Division judgement in a bail petition. A High Court Division Bench comprising Justice Syed Amirul Islam and Justice Mirza Hossain Halder delivered the judgement containing some observations that blasted the police and the executive for implicating political rivals in criminal cases. The attorney submitted that the judgement containing comments and views were unwarranted, betraying personal emotions not befitting the court. The five-member Appellate Bench headed by Chief Justice K M Hasan granted the government's petition. Consequently, about 30 per cent of the 17-page judgement were expunged. - The Daily Star, 10 August.

Launch disaster reports submitted

The government has submitted the reports of five different inquiry committees' formed to probe launch disaster to the High Court Division. Earlier the High Court bench comprising Justice Shah Abu Nayeem Mominur Rahman and Justice Abdul Awal asked the govt to submit all the inquiry reports. Though the court asked the petitioner to submit comments on the inquiry reports, the petitioner failed to submit it and promised to do the same later. It can be mentioned that at the beginning of this year Quazi Faruque, secretary general of the Consumers Association of Bangladesh, filed a writ petition in which the High court Division issued a rule nisi on the Government to explain why it should not ensure compliance of laws for navigational safety. -Law Desk.

Arrest warrant against cops

A court at Chittagong has issued warrant of arrest against three police office officers including the OC of Kotwali thana as they did not appear before the court as witness in three separate cases. The Judge of the Speedy Trial Tribunal-1 ordered the arrest of OC of Kotwali thana Ruhul Amin Siddiqui, Sub-inspectors Rafiqul Islam and Abul Kalam Azad. Earlier , the court summoned the officers twice to give their deposition in the cases but they did not comply with the court order. - Observer, 14 August.

Formation of Gram Sarker continues

The number of formation of Gram Sarker has been raised to around seven thousand since the process started on August 2. There was no report of any untoward incident from anywhere across the country on the formation of gram Sarker till today. - Law Desk.

421 Women tortured in July

A survey conducted by Bangladesh Nari Progati Sangho revealed that in the July 421 women had been victims of torture and serious oppression countrywide. Among them, 110 women were killed, 138 women were raped and 114 women were physically tortured. According to the survey most of these incidents happened for demand of dower and most of the killings followed rapes. -Law desk.

Cops sentenced for mugging

Metropolitan Magistrate Court, Chittagong has sentenced two policemen and an auto-rickshaw driver to five years rigorous imprisonment and fined them Tk 5,000 each for mugging. Havilder MA Mannan, constable Jasimuddin of the Chittagong Metropolitan Police and the driver Jamaluddin mugged Tk 1 lakh from a businessman on June 15 this year.Metropolitan Magistrate Monwarul Islam has delivered verdict under the Speedy Trial Act. Emran Hossain, a shoe trader, was waylaid by Mannan and Jasimuddin in Nandankanan area while he was returning home by auto-rickshaw after withdrawing the amount at around 1:00pm. The locals rushed to the spot and caught the policemen before they could run away with the money. Emran later filed a case with the Kotwali Police Station against the policemen and the driver. - The Daily Star, 15 August.