Law-&-Order
HC asks 2 lower court judges to explain further on Pori Moni’s multiple remands
The High Court on Wednesday asked for further explanation from two lower court judges by October 24 on why they remanded actress Pori Moni to police on multiple times in a narcotics case.
The HC bench of Justices Mustafa Zaman Islam and KM Zahid Sarwar passed the order as the court found the earlier explanations offered by the two judges unsatisfactory.
The court also fixed October 24 for next hearing in the case.
The two metropolitan magistrates in question are Debabrata Biswas and Atiqul Islam.
Besides, the HC asked the investigating officer of the case Kazi Golam Mostafa to submit his explanation in the case.
On September 2, the High Court asked the two lower court judges to explain why they had accepted the police prayer to remand actress Pori Moni for the second and the third time in the narcotics case.
Read: Pori Moni's remand: HC 'not satisfied' with explanation of lower court judges
The court had also summoned the investigating officer to appear before the bench on September 15 along with relevant documents to explain why he repeatedly sought remand for the actress.
The bench said it would also summon the metropolitan magistrates who had granted the prayers for taking Pori Moni in remand for second and third times, if their written explanation was not satisfactory.
Besides, the HC said there was potential for abuse of power in the remand of the actress.
Ain-o-Salish Kendra lawyer ZI Khan Panna told the HC during the hearing that its guidelines and directives were all thrown out of the window in the manner by which the actress was placed on remand in three phases.
Pori Moni was arrested on August 4 following a raid by Rab on her Banani residence. A case was filed against her under the Narcotics Control Act the following day.
Following the High Court's intervention, a Dhaka court finally granted bail to the actress on September 1 and she walked out of jail the following day.
Read: Pori Moni resumes work on her incomplete, upcoming characters
On August 22, Pori Moni was sent to jail after inspector of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Kazi Golam Mostafa produced her in a court on the completion of a one-day remand, her third.
Judge Emrul Kayesh set September 13 for hearing her bail petition in the case. However, the actress subsequently moved the High Court, challenging the validity of the lower court's decision.
The HC on August 26 issued a rule, seeking explanation as to why a lower court order fixing September 13 for hearing the bail petition of Pori Moni in a case under the Narcotics Control Act should not be cancelled. It had also asked why the bail application would not be heard within two days.
High Court dismisses plea for probe into leaked phone conversations
The High Court on Wednesday rejected a writ petition seeking an immediate probe into leaked telephonic conversations.
The petition was dismissed by a division bench of justices M Enayetur Rahim and Md Mostafizur Rahman.
Advocate Mohamamd Shishir Monir appeared for the petitioner while attorney general AM Amin Uddin and advocate Khandaker Reza-e-Rakib represented the state and the Bangladesh Telecommunication and Regulatory Commission (BTRC), respectively.
Read: HC wants to know steps taken to prevent money laundering by e-commerce firms
On August 10, a group of 10 Supreme Court lawyers filed a writ petition in the High Court seeking an investigation into leaked telephonic conversations.
Posts and Telecommunications department Secretary, Information and Communications department Secretary, Telecommunications and Information Technology Secretary, and Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission chairman were made respondents to the petition.
UNB has learnt that the petitioners cited 20 high-profile instances of leaked telephonic conversations between 2013 and 2021 in their petition.
Conversations between Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and then Opposition leader Begum Khaleda Zia, between General Secretary of Awami League Obaidul Quader and BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, between late senior lawyer Barrister Moudud Ahmed and Assistant Commissioner of Rajshahi Metropolitan Police Nazmul Hasan were some of the notable instances cited by the petitioners.
Read: HC orders closure of unauthorized microcredit institutions
Privacy of personal communications has been guaranteed under Article 43 of the Bangladeshi Constitution and it is a fundamental right of the citizens, according to the Supreme Court lawyers.
Besides, Section 30 (f) of the Telecommunications Regulation Act, 2001, ensures privacy of phone conversations, they had pointed out. And according to Section 71 of the same act, "phone tapping is a punishable offence".
A person convicted of this crime can be sentenced to a maximum of two years in jail or fined Tk 5 crore.
Jhumon Das walks out of jail after six months
Jhumon Das walked out of Sunamganj District Jail on Tuesday evening after spending nearly six months following his arrest in a case filed under the Digital Security Act.
Jail superintendent Nurshed Ahmed Via said Jhumon left the premises around 6.30 pm, hours after the High Court's bail order, issued on Thursday, reached the jail.
Jhumon expressed his gratitude for all who have supported him, after walking out of jail.
Read: Jhumon Das gets bail in digital security case
On September 23, the High Court granted interim bail for a year to Jhumon in the case.
Jhumon had been in judicial custody since March 22, when he was arrested for posting defamatory remarks about then Hefazat leader Mamunul Haque on his Facebook page.
In fact, on March 17, a group of miscreants carried out an attack on the houses of a minority community in Noagaon village of Shalla upazila over his Facebook post.
On March 16, police detained Jhumon and produced him in court the very next day, showing his arrest in a case filed under Section 54 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). The court subsequently sent him to judicial custody.
Read: DSA: Order on Jhumon Das’s bail plea Thursday
But on March 22, police filed a case against him under DSA at the Shalla police station in Sunamganj and Jhumon was again shown as arrested a day later.
On March 30, he was taken on a two-day police remand in the case. On July 18, a magistrate's court rejected the bail petition of Jhumon.
Nearly a month later, Jhumon moved the High Court for bail in the case.
HC wants to know steps taken to prevent money laundering by e-commerce firms
The High Court on Tuesday asked the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit(BFIU) to inform it the steps it has taken on money laundering by the country’s e-commerce firms.
The court also wanted to know from the National Board of Revenue’s (NBR) its policy on collecting VAT and Tax from these firms and the area of work of the 16-member technical committee formed by the Commerce Ministry for the e-commerce sector.
The HC bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Md Mostafizur Rahman passed the order during a virtual hearing on the three writ petitions filed by some victims of fraudulence by e-commerce companies.
The court adjourned the hearing on those writs till November 8 and asked the concerned government authorities to inform the court about its queries within the period.
Advocate Md Anwarul Islam, Md Shishir Monir and Mohammad Humayun Kabir presented the petitioner’s side while Deputy Attorney General Bipul Bagmar stood for the state.
Earlier on September 20, Supreme Court lawyer Anwarul Islam filed a writ petition seeking its directive on creating an independent e-commerce monitoring institute to protect the interest and rights of customers of e-commerce.
On September 22, another SC lawyer Mohammad Humayun Kabir filed a petition seeking its directive on forming a probe-committee to find out the responsible individual or government authority whose negligence or failure has caused lakhs of consumers monetary losses from renowned e-commerce like Evaly, e-orange, Dhamaka, Daraz, Qcoom, Aladiner Prodip, Alesha Mart, and Dalal Plus.
On September 23, thirty-three consumers of e-orange filed a writ to get back their money from the company.
The petition was filed by advocate Shishir Monir seeking bar on the senior officials and authority of the risky e-commerce companies like e-orange from leaving the country and seeking a committee for protecting the interest of both the customer and company coordinated by economists, IT experts, and stakeholders.
HC stays BFUJ election after complaint by an aggrieved member
The High Court on Tuesday ordered a two-month stay on the election of Bangladesh Federal union of Journalist (BFUJ) which was scheduled to be held on October 23.
The HC bench of Justice Md Mozibur Rahman Miah and Justice Md Kamrul Hossain Mollah passed the order following a writ petition by a journalist whose name was dropped from the voter list of the election.
Petitioner Mohammad Hasan Ferdous, former general secretary of Chattogram Journalist Union, sought the stay until his name is included as a voter.
The HC also issued a rule asking the authorities concerned to explain as to why Hasan should not be included in the voter list.
Barister Satirtho Pal and Advocate Nurul Karim stood for the petitioner while assistant attorney general Ashique Rubayet represented the state.
On September 25, BFUJ published the names of candidates in different posts for the election.
BFUJ election commission has published a final list of 33 valid candidates out of 34 nominations filed for the vote.
According to BFUJ about 4,000 members have been declared eligible to vote in the election.
Senior Journalist Shahjahan Sardar will conduct the polls as the Chief Election Commissioner.
HC orders closure of unauthorized microcredit institutions
The High Court on Monday ordered the authorities concerned to close down the unauthorized microcredit financial institutions and take legal steps against those with the help of local administration.
The HC bench of Justice Abu Taher Md Saifur Rahman and Justice Md Zakir Hossain passed the order after hearing a writ petition.
The HC also ordered the Bangladesh Bank to form a special committee for investigating the small loan programmes of the unauthorized companies and make a list of those institutions.
The special committee has been asked to submit its report within 45 days of receiving copy of the order.
Also read: HC questions provision of prior permission for arresting govt employee
The HC also asked the microcredit regulatory authority to submit a list of local loan providers within the 45 days.
The court also issued a rule asking the government to explain why the incompetence of the respondents in monitoring the activities of the unauthorized financial institutions, cooperative associations and microfinance institutions should not be declared beyond legal authority.
Secretary to the Finance Ministry, Governor of Bangladesh Bank, Microcredit Regulatory Authority has been made respondents to the rule.
The court also fixed November 30 for the next hearing.
Also read: HC to pass order on phone tapping on Sept 29
On September 7, Barrister Syed Sayedul Haque, a lawyer of the Supreme Court filed a writ petition seeking to identify those involved in providing loans with high interest across the country.
Barrister Haque stood for the petitioner while deputy attorney general Nur Us Sadique represented the state.
According to the petition, the unregistered institutions are involved in realising high interest and they are not registered in the name of any financial institutions and banking institutions.
Many people have chosen to kill themselves and sell their body organs after failing to pay the interest, according to reports published in newspapers.
HC questions provision of prior permission for arresting govt employee
The High Court on Sunday issued a rule asking why the provision for getting prior permission to arrest government employees should not be declared illegal and unconstitutional.
After the hearing of a writ petition, the bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Md Mostafizur Rahman issued the rule.
HC issued the rule asking the concerned authorities of the government to respond to the rule within four weeks.
HC also asked why they should not be directed to refrain from giving posting to Kurigram’s suspended deputy commissioner Sultana Parvin, and suspended executive magistrates Rintu Bikash Chakma and Nazim Uddin, who are alleged to have assaulted journalist Ariful Islam Regan last year.
On March 14, 2020, Ariful, Kurigram correspondent of Bangla Tribune, was abducted from his home by a group in the guise of a mobile court at midnight, threatened with crossfire and brutally tortured by the district administration for one of his reports.
He was later sent to jail on a charge of possessing half a bottle of liquor and 150 grams of cannabis.
Ariful this year submitted a writ petition challenging the legitimacy of the government officials’ postings.
Case filed against NGO officials for cutting down trees
A case was filed against four people including two NGO officials Sunday at Dhamrai upazila in Savar for illegally cutting and selling 132 government trees from beside the road.
The accused are Director of NGO Shojag Abdul Matin, 62, manager of the NGO Md Masudur Rahman Masud, 50, buyer Md Naif Ali Bepari, 30, and Sodhu Bepari, 60.
Upazila Forest Officer Md Motalib Al Momin filed the case at Dhamrai police station on Sunday.
According to the complaint, Shojag cut down the 132 trees from alongside 3 km of the road from Chapila area in Sombhag union to Naogaon and 1 km from Kushra union to Pothhara area without the approval of the Forest Department.
The NGO officials didn’t pay any heed to the Forest Department officials when they were asked to refrain from cutting the trees.
According to the upazila forest office, the trees were planted in 1990 under a World Food Program project worth Tk 9.10 lakh.
Forest Officer Md Motalib said the fallen trees and instruments used for cutting them were seized.
The NGO director Abdul Matin couldn’t be contacted over the phone in this regard.
Officer-in-Charge of Dhamrai police station Md Atiqur Rahman said legal actions will be taken against the accused in the case.
Upazila Nirbahi Officer Hossain Mohammad Hai Jaki said cutting trees from government-owned land is against the law and action will be taken in this regard soon.
Ex-state minister Mannan, his wife stand trial on graft charges
The trial of Abdul Mannan Khan, former state minister for housing and public works, and his wife Hasina Sultana formally began on Sunday after a Dhaka indicted the couple with illegal acquisition of wealth.
The court framed charges against the two in two separate graft cases filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission.
Special Judge Court-3 Justice Mohammad Ali Hossain set October 18 for recording testimonies, said prosecutor for ACC Mir Ahmed Ali Salam.
On August 21, 2014, the ACC filed a case against Abdul Mannan, who was in office in the Awami League government during 2009-2014, for amassing illegal wealth worth over Tk 75 lakh, exceeding his known source of income.
On August 24, he surrendered to Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court and got a bail.
On August 11, 2015 the ACC submitted a charge sheet against Abdul Mannan before the court.
According to the charge sheet the amount of illegal wealth acquired by him increased to Tk 2.66 crore and he concealed information about wealth worth Tk 31lakh.
On October 21, 2015 the anti-graft body filed a case against his wife Hasina Sultana for acquiring illegal wealth worth Tk 3.45 crore.
On October 24, she surrendered before court and was granted anticipatory bail.
Munia rape and murder: Flat owner gets anticipatory bail
The High Court on Sunday granted a six-week anticipatory bail to Ibrahim Ahmed Ripon, landlord of the flat where college student Mosarat Jahan Munia Munia had been living, in a case filed over her rape and murder in the flat in April this year.
The HC bench of Justice Mustafa Zaman Islam and Justice KM Zahid Sarwar Kajol passed the order after hearing a petition filed by Ibrahim seeking anticipatory bail in the case.
Read: Munia rape and murder case: Bashundhara MD seeks anticipatory bail
The HC granted the bail on condition that Ibrahim will not leave the country and he must deposit his passport to the concerned magistrate court.
Advocate Nahid Sultana Yuthi appeared for Ripon in the court while Assistant Attorney General Mizanur Rahman represented the state.
Earlier on September 6, a rape and murder case was filed against Bashundhara Group Managing Director Sayem Sobhan Anvir and seven others including Ibrahim Ahmed Ripon over the death of Munia in a Gulshan apartment.
The seven other accused are: Bashundhara Group's Chairman Ahmed Akbar Sobhan Shah Alam, Shah Alam's wife Afroza Begum; Anvir's wife Sabrina Sayem; Faria Mahbub Piyasha; Saifa Rahman Mim; landlord of the flat where the victim was staying, Ibrahim Ahmed Ripon and his wife Sharmim Akhter.
Read:Munia's death: Bashundhara MD among 8 sued over ‘rape, murder’
Munia's sister Nusrat Jahan Tania filed the case with Dhaka's 8th Tribunal for Prevention of Women and Children's Repression.
Earlier on August 19, Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Rajesh Chowdhury relieved Anvir of the charge of incitement to suicide of the college student.
On July 19, the investigating officer of the case, Gulshan Police Station officer-in-charge Abul Hasan, submitted a final report to the court giving a clean chit to Anvir.
Read: Munia's death: Court accepts IO's final report clearing Bashundhara Group MD
Anvir was not found culpable in the suicide incitement case of Munia in the final report submitted by the investigating officer and asked for his name to be dropped.
On April 26, police recovered the hanging body of Munia from the flat. Munia's elder sister Nusrat Jahan Tania filed a case against Anvir that night accusing him of incitement to suicide.
According to Tania, her sister Munia was in a relationship with Anvir who regularly visited her at the Gulshan apartment.