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the dredger to Liton in seven days, and also issued a rule asking the government and Mamun to explain why his action should not be declared illegal.

On November 20, 2022, the HC directed the government to suspend Khagrachhari’s Ramgarh UNO Khondker Md Ikhtiar Uddin Arafat from conducting mobile court for illegally sentencing two labourers on August 1 that year.

The HC also issued a rule asking the government and the UNO to explain why the conviction and sentence handed by him through a mobile court should not be declared illegal and why they should not be directed to give Tk 10 lakh in compensation to labourers Abul Kalam and Ruhul Amin.

The rules are yet to be heard and disposed of, court sources said.

On August 6, 2021, an HC bench ordered the government authorities concerned to provide training to the executive magistrates so they could conduct mobile courts properly and legally.

The HC bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim (now a judge of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court) asked Attorney General AM Amin Uddin to talk to the Cabinet Division secretary to take necessary steps.

“After going through newspaper reports, I have noticed that some executive magistrates conducted mobile courts for punishing offenders a few days after the crimes were committed, which is not allowed under the relevant law. The mobile court must hold the trial of the offense at the scene,” Justice Enayetur Rahim said that day.

After holding three writ petitions, the HC on May 11, 2017, scrapped the rules under which executive magistrates run the mobile courts.

In its verdict, the HC observed that empowering executive magistrates with judicial powers is “a frontal attack on the independence of the judiciary and is violative of the theory of separation of powers”, and said mobile courts could be run by judicial or metropolitan magistrates.

Following three petitions filed by the government, the Appellate Division on January 8, 2018, stayed the operation of the HC verdict until further order.

The hearing on the appeals is yet to be held.

Contacted, Attorney General AM Amin Uddin has earlier told The Daily Star that the executive magistrates are being provided training on a regular basis to run mobile courts properly.

Asked about abuse of power by executive magistrates, an additional secretary and a joint secretary (district magistracy) of the Cabinet Division refused to comment.

Another official concerned, speaking on condition of anonymity, told this newspaper that more emphasis is being given on the training of the field level officials so that the number of errors is smaller.

“It is quite natural that all field level officials cannot demonstrate the same level of skills. The administration officials are heavily criticised by the media for their small mistakes, but that doesn’t happen in the case of other officials. About 1,000 officials of the ranks of UNO and AC [land] carry out duties at the field level. It is difficult to expect that all these young officials would work flawlessly,” he said.