Arson case against top opposition leaders
Proceedings stayed
The High Court on Monday stayed for eight weeks the proceedings in the arson case, which is now pending with the Dhaka Speedy Trial Court-5, against 46 top BNP-led opposition alliance leaders.
The court also asked the government to explain in two weeks the legality of the notification issued on July 31 by Dhaka’s chief metropolitan magistrate to constitute the Speedy Trial Court-5 with metropolitan magistrate Harun-or-Rashid for holding the trial of the case.
The bench of Justice Naima Haider and Justice Muhammad Khurshid Alam Sarkar passed the order after hearing a writ petition filed on July 29 by Bangladesh Nationalist Party lawmaker Mahbub Uddin Khokon, also an accused in the case, challenging the legality of the constituting of the Speedy Trial Court-5 by an order of the CMM.
The Speedy Trial Court is scheduled to begin the formal trial of the case today with the recording of the depositions of the prosecution witnesses.
The trial cannot now begin because of the High Court order, said attorney general Mahbubey Alam.
The proceedings in the case can begin only if the government issues a gazette notification constituting a Speedy Trial Court, he told New Age.
That will also be difficult as the trial needs to be completed in a limited period in accordance with the Law and Order Infringing Offences Speedy Trial Act 2002, he added.
Moving the writ petition, Rafique-ul Haque told the court that Section 8 of the Act stipulates that the government will constitute a Speedy Trial Court in each district or metropolitan area through a gazette notification and fix the jurisdiction of such a court.
But chief metropolitan magistrate Bikas Kumar Saha, through a gazette notification on May 9, constituted the Speedy Trial Court-7 with metropolitan magistrate Md Erfanullah and fixed its jurisdiction in violation of the law, argued Rafique.
He also submitted that the CMM on July 31 constituted Speedy Trial Court-5 with magistrate Harun-or-Rashid and transferred the arson case to the latter as the defence counsels expressed ‘no confidence’ in the judge.
‘As the government issued no gazette notification constituting a Speedy Trial Court for holding the trial of the arson case, the proceedings of the case cannot be continued just because of the notification issued by the chief metropolitan magistrate illegally,’ argued Rafique.
Mahbubey Alam, however, pleaded that the chief metropolitan magistrate had issued the notification to constitute Speedy Trial Court-5 and 7 as per the government’s decision in 2008,
which had been approved by the Supreme Court.
Mahbubey submitted that the government decided in 2008 to effect the constitution of the eight Speedy Trial Tribunal Courts by mentioning eight magistrates’ names, and the decision was sent to the Bangladesh Government Press for publication of gazette notification, but it is yet to be published.
The government made the decision on the proposal sent to the home ministry by the then chief metropolitan magistrate, AKM Enamul Haque, on 8 May, 2008, Mahbubey added.
The court pointed out that all proceedings of Speedy Trial Courts would be void and the government would fall in trouble if there is no government gazette notification on the formation of courts after 2008.
Mahbubey submitted that the government had delegated the power to the chief metropolitan magistrate or his nominated senior magistrate for holding the trial of any case under the Law and Order Infringing Offences Speedy Trial Act 2002.
Ahsanul Karim, another counsel for the writ petitioner, pleaded that the government’s legislative power of constituting the courts cannot be delegated to the chief metropolitan magistrate until a law is made in this regard.
Mahbubey opposed the staying of the proceedings of the Speedy Trial Court-5, saying that the leaders of the BNP-led alliance had committed heinous offences which had been disclosed in the charge-sheet and the First Information Report of the case.
The proceedings should not be stayed on the ground of a procedural fault which is alleged in the writ petition.
Earlier in the morning, the junior judge of the bench led by Justice Mirza Hussain Haider, Kazi Md Ejarul Haque Akondo, felt embarrassed to hear the petition after it was moved by Rafique.
On July 31, the Speedy Trial Tribunal-5 charged 46 opposition leaders, including the BNP’s acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, with setting a bus on fire near the Prime Minister’s Office on April 29.
According to the 2002 Act, the trial needs to be completed in 30 working days.
If the charges are proved, the accused may be jailed for terms ranging between two and five years.
The Detective Branch of police on May 10 submitted the charge-sheet against the 46 opposition leaders and activists to the Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court.
The 46 indicted leaders also include BNP standing committee members MK Anwar, Mirza Abbas, Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Sadeque Hossain and Goyeshwar Chandra Roy, Liberal Democratic Party’s president Oli Ahmed, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami’s acting amir Mokbul Hossain, Bangladesh Jatiya Party’s president Andaleeve Rahman Partha and BNP leaders Amanullah Aman, Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, Nazimuddin Alam and Habibunnabi Khan Sohel, all of whom are now on bail.
-With New Age input
