STAR REPORT

The High Court yesterday scrapped the proceedings of a case filed against internationally acclaimed photographer Shahidul Alam. The case was filed under the controversial section 57 of the ICT Act, 2006 in which he was behind the bar for 107 days.

The bench of Justice Mustafa Zaman Islam and Justice Tamanna Rahman Khalidi delivered the verdict after holding hearing on a petition filed by Shahidul last year, challenging legality of the case procee-dings.

The HC quashed the proceedings against Shahidul Alam on the grounds that the case is still now at the investigation stage and has not been placed before the court concerned for trial and such cases cannot run under the relevant provisions of the law, said Qazi Zahed Iqbal, a lawyer for Shahidul.

The allegations brought in the case are not covered by the law, he added.

On August 5, 2018, Shahidul, founder of Drik Gallery and Pathshala South Asian Media Institute, was picked up from his Dhanmondi home during a movement for safe roads.

Police lodged the case and produced him before a Dhaka court the following day. On November 15, 2018, HC granted him bail, and he was released from Dhaka jail the next day.