Law
week
MP Aspirants' Personal Info
SC has finally decided to deliver its judgment on December 11 on the much-talked-about appeal against the High Court (HC) directive to the Election Commission (EC) to collect and publish eight-point personal information about candidates for parliamentary election. The full bench of the Appellate Division of the SC headed by Chief Justice Mohammad Ruhul Amin yesterday also ordered the advocate on record for appellant Abu Safa to produce him before the court on the day of delivery of verdict. The SC passed the order and fixed the date for judgment after two days of hearing on the long pending appeal. The appeal remained pending since the SC chamber judge stayed in December last year the HC directive issued in response to a writ petition filed with it. - The Daily Star, November 21.
HC declares ACC notice on Hasina illegal
The High Court (HC) declared illegal issuance of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) notice asking former premier Sheikh Hasina to submit her wealth statement, which worried ACC officials about the fate of their other similar notices. The HC gave the verdict after hearing of an HC rule issued in August following Hasina's filing of a writ petition to challenge the legality of the ACC notice. The verdict said the notice was served on Hasina without maintaining proper procedure. In a reaction to the verdict, ACC Chairman Lt Gen (retd) Hasan Mashhud Chowdhury however said, "We are not worried or demoralised by the judgment as we know we must go through legal processes...We have the option to go to higher court and we will do so." Asked if there was any weakness in the proceedings for preparing the case, Mashhud said, "There was absolutely no weakness in the ACC work." But despite the ACC chairman's confidence, a few officials of the commission and its legal experts expressed concern, saying all notices asking a number of people to submit wealth statements might also face legal complexities. -The Daily Star, November 22.
Voter listing begins in city
The enumerators collected particulars of 68,886 voters on the first day of field-level task of voter listing that got underway in Dhaka city. The Election Commission (EC) has engaged 13,040 enumerators, 2627 supervisors, 15 thana election officers and four district election and registration officers for voter listing in the DCC area. The enumerators are making door-to-door visit to collect the voters' particulars, If necessary, they will visit the residences twice to get the missing eligible voters who will not be found during the first visit. "The family members will be informed about the time table of the second visit. It will be better if an eligible person adjusts his/her time so that they can fill up the voters' particulars form," EC secretary Kabir told reporters. Enumerators of different areas have told reporters that they are not getting the eligible male voters at their residences on working days. -Unb, Dhaka, November 22.
Included the Urdu speaking community in the national ID card scheme
In a recent press release Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU) urged the present government to take necessary steps to uphold the rights of the Urdu speaking community. The Government has undertaken an initiative to prepare a fresh voter list and a national identity card scheme for its citizens. The voter list and national ID cards will serve as important documents for all Bangladeshis to ensure their livelihood, access services and facilities and enjoy citizenship and political rights. At an inter-ministerial meeting held on September 5, 2007, it was decided that amongst the camp dwelling Urdu-speaking community, those who were born after 1971 and those who were minors during the liberation war would be given citizenship status and thus be enrolled as voters and included in the national ID card scheme. RMMRU welcomes this decision of the government. However, we strongly believe that according to the constitution and the citizenship law of Bangladesh, all members of the camp dwelling Urdu-speaking community in Bangladesh are its citizens. In this context, RMMRU, the undersigned, urge the government to recognize all members of the camp dwelling Urdu-speaking community in Bangladesh as its citizens and facilitate their exercise of effective citizenship rights by enrolling them as voters and including them in the national ID card scheme. this statement was also endorsed by eminent academics, legal professionals, cultural activists and civil society members. - Press release.
Corresponding with the Law Desk
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