Law
week
Chaos
in court over Faizee's taking bench
Additional Judge Faisal Mahmud Faizee's joining the High
Court bench witnessed a chaotic scene at his courtroom
as two groups of lawyers shouted at each other making
opposing statements on whether he should continue performing
judicial tasks. The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA),
meanwhilm, decided to continue its boycott of Faizee's
court that had started five months ago. The decision was
taken after an inconclusive meeting with the chief justice
yesterday. The pro-boycott lawyers chanted slogans at
the courtroom in Faizee's presence while the pro-government
lawyers said they would like to see Faizee to continue
his judicial tasks. After a 160-day break, Faizee joined
court Sunday following the High Court's verdict in a contempt
case against two newspapers for running stories on the
allegel tampering with the judge's LLB certificate. The
court punished the two newspapers. SCBA president Abdul
Baset Majumder came to the spot and delivered a speech
in presence of Faizee. He said, "We met the chief
justice yesterday and he will sit again with all the former
SCBA presidents this afternoon." Majumder urged Faizee
to refrain from sitting at the court for the time being
for the sake of peaceful environment. Faizee however expressed
his desire to undertake judicial tasks. -The
Daily Star, April 2.
BTTB
Cellphone Writ petition filed against licence transfer
A writ petition was filed challenging the legality of
the transfer of cellular phone operating licence of Bangladesh
Telegraph and Telephone Board (BTTB) to another company
'Teletalk Bangladesh Ltd' and the allocation of radio
frequency in favour of the company leading to its commercial
launch. Mesbahuddin Ahmed, an associate professor of the
Department of History at Dhaka University, and Nasimul
Ghani, an employee of the BTTB and Ozganising Secretary
of Telejogajog Sramik Karmachari Union, filed the writ
petition with the High Court Division of the Supreme Court.
The petitioners sought a rule upon the respondents to
show cause as to why the transfer of the licence and allocation
of the frequency should not be declared illegal. They
also urged thm court to stay operations of Teletalk and
using the frequency allocated by the BTRC. The respondents
are Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission
(BTRC), its chairman, BTTB and its chairman, secretary
of the Minis|ry of Post and Telecommunications and Teletalk
Bangladesh Ltd. -Daily
Prothom Alo, April12.
Govt
to enact anti-dumping law
The government is going to enact an anti-dumping law in
order to protect the interests of local indu{tries, Chairman
of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) Khairuzzaman Chowdhury
told a pre-budget discussion. "The government will
enact an anti-dumping law," he said asking the leaders
of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) to give
a list of items that are being dumped. DCCI leaders at
the pre-budget meeting also alleged imported goods are
flooding the Bangladesh market, posing threat to local
industries. The chamber leaders also stressed the need
for bringing pari|y in facilities enjoyed by entrmpreneurs
in the export processing zones and outside the zones.
Speaking at the meeting at the chamber auditorium in Dhaka,
DCCI President Sayeeful Islam demanded continuation of
tax holiday in the next budget. -The
Daily Star, April 11.
Act
tough to recover grabbed lands
Prime Minister Khaleda Zia said the government has identified
illegal land grabbing as a national problem and ordermd
the administration to take effective measures to recover
public and private lands from grabbers, and go for stern
action against them.
"We
have already formed committees at national and district
levels to recover illegally grabbed lands of the government,
autonomous bodies, private institutions and people as
well as to take proper steps against the illegal occupants,"
she said. Inaugurating a three-day annual conference of
deputy commissioners (DCs) at the Cabinet Division, the
prime minister asked the DCs to take tougher action against
the land grabbers.
"You
must tackle with a heavy hand any obstructions to government
activities and attacks on institutions or officials. You
have to discharge all your responsibilities with neutrality
ignoring all sorts of pressure and intimidation,"
Khaleda said. - The
Daily Star, April 10.
Ex-HC
judge files petition against chief justice
A unconfirmed additional judge of the High Court (HC)
filed a writ petition challenging the legality of Chief
Justice Syed JR Mudassir Husain's holding office 'violating
the Constitution'. The HC Division Bench of Justice Shah
Abu Nayeem Mominur Rahman and J}stice Moinul Islam Chowdhury
briefly heard the petition filed by Abdus Salam Mamun,
the judge.
The
bench adjourned for a week the petition's admissibility.
The petitioner accused the chief justice (CJ) of victimising
and depriving the petitioner of becoming a confirmed judge
'despite understanding oiven to him'. Mamun and 10 others
were appointed additional judge{ to the High Co}rt in
July 2002 for a two-year term. After the end of their
terms, all the additional judges, barring petitioner Mamun,
were confirmed as High Court judges. Hoever, Mamun's
tenure as an additional judge was extended by ano|her
six months, but he was not confirmed even a| the end of
the extended period. Mamun in his petition alleged 'inaction'
of the chief justice in confirming him as a judge. It
is 'tantamount' to violation of Article 95 of the Constitution,
he said and claimed that the chief justice has no authority
to continue in his office. -UNB,
April 10.
Corresponding
with the Law Desk
Please send your mails, queries, and opinions to: Law
Desk, The Daily Star 19 Karwan Bazar, Dhaka-1215;
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