Law
week
HC records fatwa victim's statement
A 17-year-old girl stated before the High Court that she was tortured physically during a village arbitration in Brahmanbaria for having an affair. The girl's mother also backed her statement at the court. However, they both denied any instance of a fatwa (religious edict) against the girl. She was reportedly given 101 lashes as a punishment for having an affair.
The HC bench of justices Syed Mahmud Hossain and Gobinda Chandra Tagore recorded their statements separately in a chamber attached to the courtroom. - The Daily Star, June 3, 2010.
Tough law on cards to punish offenders
The government has moved to make a law styled as Road Transport &Traffic Act ensuring provision for stringent punishment to those responsible for a road accident, Communications Minister Syed Abul Hossain told the House. He said the Motor Vehicle Ordinance 1983 and the penal codes do not award major punishment to the people behind fatal road accidents. “Therefore, the government has taken measures to make a new law by updating the motor vehicle ordinance,” the minister added while replying to lawmakers' queries. He said the government has reconstituted the 32-member national road safety council and taken various initiatives to reduce road crashes. Short films would be shown on different television channels to create awareness on road safety and traffic rules. - The Daily Star, June 3, 2010.
No tolerance for custodial death
The High Court directed the government to put a stop to custodial deaths, saying the court will not tolerate such incidents. An HC bench of Justice AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik, and Justice Md Delwar Hossain sounded the warning during a public interest litigation hearing in connection with the May 11 death of Md Manik Mia in custody of Chittagong police. Manik was a security guard of Anjuman Market at Reazuddin Bazar in Chittagong; he was also an accused in a theft case. -The Daily Star, June 2, 2010.
Shah Alam denied bail
The High Court (HC) rejected seven petitions filed by Bashundhara Group chairman Ahmed Akbar Sobhan alias Shah Alam seeking anticipatory bail in seven criminal cases against him. And it ordered Shah Alam to surrender before a trial court within eight weeks in connection with the cases. The HC also ordered the law enforcement agencies not to harass or arrest him during this period in these cases. An HC bench comprised of Justice Shamsul Huda and Justice Abu Bakar Siddiquee passed the orders after hearing the bail petitions. - The Daily Star, June 2, 2010.
HC asks for all records
The High Court asked for all records related to the alleged sexual harassment of a Dhaka University female student by a psychology department teacher. The court also stayed operations of a new enquiry committee formed by the DU authorities for three weeks. The committee was looking into sexual harassment allegations against Md Kamaluddin, an associate professor of the university. He allegedly harassed the student of the same department at his office room on March 3, 2003. On April 7 this year, the DU authorities formed the new enquiry committee headed by Prof Harunur Rashid, pro-vice-chancellor of DU, dissolving the first enquiry committee, which was headed by then vice chancellor Prof AFM Yusuf Haider. -The Daily Star, June 1, 2010.
Govt waits for content removal
The government submitted an appeal to the Facebook authority using its automatic 'abuse reporting' tool to remove the offensive contents from its site. After a discussion with 26 information technology (IT) experts, BTRC officials signed in the social networking site for a while and submitted the appeal. If any user submits a request using the option in the Facebook tool bar, it gives reply within 24 hours from submitting the appeal. Facebook users use 'abuse reporting' option massively when they found anything offensive in the social network site. All reports on abuse in the site are considered confidential. -The Daily Star, June 1, 2010.
Tac clemency under scanner
The Anti-corruption Commission, in a rather controversial move, has decided to reopen proceedings against 297 graft suspects, the majority of whom were pardoned by the now defunct Truth and Accountability Commission (Tac) in exchange for voluntary disclosure and surrender of ill-gotten wealth. ACC made the decision last week, after the High Court in November 2008 had declared that the Voluntary Disclosure of Information Ordinance 2008 is illegal and unconstitutional. The immediate past caretaker government promulgated the ordinance and formed Tac under it, to ease the state's including the judiciary's burden of dealing with graft cases that were piling up fast. - The Daily Star, May 31, 2010.
Bepza case against Hasina quashed
The High Court quashed all the proceedings of a graft case filed against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during BNP-Jamaat government for appointment of lobbyists for Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (Bepza). An HC bench of Justice Md Shamsul Huda and Justice Abu Bakar Siddiquee passed the verdict following a petition filed by Hasina for quashing the proceedings against her. With this HC verdict, Sheikh Hasina has been cleared of 13 cases out of 15 filed against her. -The Daily Star, May 31, 2010.
Law minister ignores JS body prescription
Law Minister Shafique Ahmed has not yet met President Zillur Rahman to resolve the swearing-in crisis of two High Court judges ignoring a proposition of a parliamentary body. At a meeting on May 24, the parliamentary standing committee on Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs asked the law minister to meet the president within three days to resolve the matter. Shafique Ahmed, however, left for Kampala -- capital of Uganda -- for a week to join a seminar. The crisis over swearing-in of Ruhul Quddus Babu and M Khasruzzaman has not been resolved in 48 days since their appointment as High Court judges on April 11 by the president. - The Daily Star, May 30, 2010.
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