& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

46 Opposition Leaders Accused

HC stays speedy trial of arson case

Staff Correspondent
The High Court yesterday stayed for eight weeks all the operations of a Dhaka court dealing with an arson case against 46 opposition leaders including BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.
The order came after the hearing on a petition challenging the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Court decision to give power to Metropolitan Magistrate Harun-or Rashid to conduct the proceedings of Dhaka's Speedy Trial Court-5 in the case.
Police filed the case with Tejgaon Police Station hours after a bus was set ablaze near the Prime Minister's Office during the April 29 hartal.
During yesterday's proceedings, the HC also issued a rule upon authorities concerned to explain in two weeks why the CMM Court decision should not be declared illegal.
Secretaries to the ministries of law, cabinet and public administration, Dhaka CMM and Magistrate Harun have been made respondents to the rule.
Attorney General Mahbubey Alam told The Daily Star that Speedy Trial Court-5, which has framed charges against the accused on July 31, cannot proceed with the case for the next eight weeks following the HC order.
Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Bikash Kumar Saha on July 31 in an order gave judicial powers to Harun-or Rashid to conduct the Speedy Trial Court-5 for hearing and disposing of the case.
On May 9, the CMM in another order assigned Metropolitan Magistrate
Mohammad Erfan Ullah to conduct the Speedy Trial Court-7 of Dhaka in the same case.
BNP lawmaker Mahbub Uddin Khokon, also an accused in the case, on July 29 filed the writ petition challenging the legality of the May 9 order.
He also submitted a supplementary writ petition to the HC yesterday. It said as per the Speedy Trial Act 2002, the government has the sole authority to form speedy trial courts and to determine the jurisdictions of their judges.
The law says the speedy trial courts will hear and dispose of the cases selected by the government, and a gazette notification has to be issued to determine the jurisdictions of the courts, it added.
Since the court of Harun
on July 31 framed charges in the case, Mahbub yesterday submitted the supplementary petition along with the original one challenging the CMM'sJuly31 decision.
During the hearing yesterday, petitioner's counsels Rafique-ul Huq and Ahsanul Karim told the court that the government has not issued any gazette notifications for constituting Speedy Trial Courts-5 and 7.
The chief metropolitan magistrate has assigned two magistrates to conduct the courts by two separate orders, going against the law, they argued.
The attorney general opposed the petition.
He said that in consultation with the Supreme Court, the government has authorised the CMM to assign magistrates for conducting speedy trial courts
for quick hearing and disposal of some particular cases.
The government in this regard has issued gazette notifications, which are now in the Bangladesh Government Press for printing and publication, he added.
Hearing the arguments, the HC bench of Justice Naima Haider and Justice Muhammad Khurshid Alam Sarkar passed the stay order and issued the rule.
Earlier yesterday, another HC bench of Justice Mirza Hussain Haider and Justice Kazi Md Ejarul Haque Akondo returned the petition to the petitioner's counsels, after Justice Ejarul Haque felt embarrassed to hear the matter.
The bench did not mention why the judge felt embarrassed.