Law
week
Top suspects skipping corruption confession
None of the high-profile graft-suspects, especially politicians arrested, accused or jailed, has applied for voluntary disclosure before the Truth and Accountability Commission (Tac) as it would bar them from contesting polls for next five years.
Sources involved in the anti-corruption drives told The Daily Star the politicians are bargaining with the government for a “concession” to amend the provision in Tac so that they can contest the polls even after making voluntary disclosure. In accordance with section 26 (1) of Voluntary Disclosure of Information Ordinance, 2008, politicians making voluntary disclosure about ill-gotten wealth won't be able to take part in any electionsparliamentary, zila parishad, upazila parishad, union parishad, and municipality pollsfor five years. Sources in the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and National Coordination Committee (NCC) to Combat Corruption and Serious Crimes say some politicians are secretly trying to have the provision of the Voluntary Disclosure of Information Ordinance, 2008 amended. -The Daily Star, September 14, 2008.
21 more fake students found at DU
The fact-finding committee on admission forgery at Dhaka University (DU) has identified 21 more fake students who got admitted to the university through fraudulent means.
With the latest findings, the total cases of admission forgery at the university now stand at 231. Earlier, a university probe committee detected 210 such cases. As per the recommendations of the fact-finding committee, the DU syndicate decided to issue show-cause notices to the 21 students asking them to answer why their admissions would not be cancelled. DU authorities formed the probe committee on October 10, 2006 in the wake of allegations of inconsistencies in the admission papers of 11 students of the public administration department of 2004-2005 academic session. -The Daily Star, September 14, 2008.
Asian workers cease strike after deal
The Asian workers, including 300 Bangladeshis, who had been on strike for 10 days protesting irregular payments and cutbacks in wages at a Jordanian garment factory, have gone back to work after signing of a tripartite agreement.
As per the agreement between the Jordanian labour ministry, MRAI Apparels and Asian workers, the employer will deduct only 10 Jordanian Dollars (JD) a month, instead of 25 JD for meals, accommodation and health care of each worker. The Asian workers including 300 Bangladeshis, 500 Sri Lankans, 200 Indians and 100 Nepalese went on strike on August 31, which continued till September 9. A few agitating workers were injured as the Jordanian police charged baton on them during the strike. As per the Jordanian law, labour strike is illegal and a worker is fined 2 JD for each day's strike. However, under the tripartite agreement, the authorities will not slap any fine on the Asian workers, Golam Mohammad, Bangladeshi ambassador to Jordan, told The Daily Star. -The Daily Star, September 15, 2008.
Sea border talks start today after 28 years
In a context of higher prospect of finding oil and gas in the Bay of Bengal, expert delegations of Bangladesh and India begin a three-day meeting in the city to settle unresolved maritime boundary issues. Earlier, Bangladesh and India sat on the same issue in 1982 only to have some primary talks. Bangladesh is sharing the Bay with India and Myanmar but has not demarcated the sea territory with them which is creating disputes mainly over offshore search of oil and gas. None of the countries has yet to claim about their marine boundaries to the United Nations.
Back in June, New Delhi and Yangoon strongly opposed Bangladesh's offshore block bidding for exploration of oil and gas. Previously, Dhaka raised objections when India and Myanmar floated international tender for searching offshore in 2006 accusing them of overlapping Bangladesh territory but yet to get any reply from India. The Bay in Bangladesh's territory that has not been tapped at all promises huge natural resources, experts say. The Daily Star reported in 2006 discovery of sedimentary rock oolite that promises of oil and gas there. -The Daily Star, September 15, 2008.
Toxic ship gets scrap nod
Playing down the environmental and public health concerns, the shipping ministry has allowed a ship-breaker to scrap an oil tanker blacklisted by environmental group Greenpeace for containing hazardous substances.
Environmentalists say the MT Enterpriseearlier christened as Ocean Enterprise, Atlantia, Taiko and the like following each re-registrationis riddled with asbestos, heavy and toxic metals like lead, mercury, cadmium, copper and zinc. If dismantling the ship goes on as planned, it will pose serious threats to the fragile coastal marine ecology, they said. The MT Enterprise is now waiting at the outer anchorage of Chittagong seaport, ready for scrap. The importer, Madina Enterprise, allegedly took out the No Objection Certificate (NOC) for the ship from the shipping ministry, managing the officials concerned.
Allowing such ships into Bangladesh waters is a violation of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal, 1989, which Bangladesh ratified in 1993. -The Daily Star, September 16, 2008.
2 traffickers get 30 yrs
A Dhaka court sentenced two members of an international drug smuggling syndicate to 30 years' rigorous imprisonment (RI) each for possessing 23.5kg heroin in November last year.
Judge AHM Mustaque Ahmed of the Speedy Trial Tribunal-2 handed down the sentence in presence of the convicts Ariful Islam Bhuiyan of Shantinagar and Mahmud Ali of Agamosi Lane of Kotwali in the capital.The court fined them Tk two lakh each, in default of which they will have to suffer another five years' RI in jail. In his judgement, the judge said that as the charges brought against the two drug peddlers were proved beyond any doubt the punishments were meted out to the two. This is the second largest heroin haul in Bangladesh. -The Daily Star, September 16, 2008.
New law on cards to deal with sexual harassment
The government is preparing a special act, which is expected to be enacted at all educational institutes of the country within the next two months to prevent sexual harassment.
The University Grants Commission has already begun work to formulate the special law in this regard, an education ministry handout said. “The government is closely observing the situation in Jahangirnagar University that has arisen from allegations of sexual harassment of female students. Such a situation can tarnish the image of the educational institution and make a negative impact on the overall education system,” the handout stated. -The Daily Star, September 17, 2008.
HC stands in toxic ship's way
Following a report published in The Daily Star styled “Toxic ship gets scrap nod” on Tuesday, Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) filed a writ challenging the No Objection Certificate (NoC) given by the Department of Shipping regarding entry of the ship. MT Enterprise is enlisted as one of the 50 dangerous ships in a chart prepared by the Green Peace.
The HC division bench of Justice Mirza Hossain Haider and Justice Mamnoon Rahman has also directed the government agencies to show cause as to why the issuance of NoC would not be declared arbitrary, discriminatory, unlawful, and against public and national interest.
The government agencies have also been directed to explain why they should not be directed to prevent the entry of any of the remaining hazardous vessels as listed by the Green Peace into the territorial waters of Bangladesh and also to frame necessary rules and regulations on ship breaking. -The Daily Star, September 18, 2008.
Corresponding with the Law Desk
Please send your mails, queries, and opinions to: Law Desk, The Daily Star 19 Karwan Bazar, Dhaka-1215; telephone 8124944,8124955,fax 8125155; email: dslawdesk@yahoo.co.uk,lawdesk@thedailystar.net
