HC stays transfer of case to military court

The High Court yesterday stayed a move to transfer a case against an army officer over the torture of his wife to a military court from a special tribunal.

Responding to a writ petition, it also stayed the proceedings of the case filed against Maj Nazir Uddin for brutalising his wife Nusrat Jahan Tushti, also a student of Dhaka University, for dowry on March 30.

The case was filed with the Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal of Tangail on April 2.

The petitioner's lawyer, Aneek R Haque, told The Daily Star that Area Commander (Logistics) of Army Headquarter Maj Gen Mizanur Rahman Khan on May 11 sent a letter to the judge of the Tangail court, stating that the case against Nazir should be tried in a military court, since the accused was an army officer.

In the letter, Mizanur also asked the Tangail court to transfer the case to the court-martial for its trial, he said.

The HC yesterday issued a rule asking the authorities concerned to explain in two weeks why the letter sent by the army general should not be declared illegal.

It also stayed the proceedings of the case and effectiveness of the letter till disposal of the rule.

The bench of Justice Mirza Hussain Haider and Justice AKM Zahirul Hoque came up with the rule and order after hearing the writ petition filed by Tushti's father Nurul Islam Bhuiyan challenging the legality of the army official's letter.

Aneek R Haque said after hearing the rule, the HC would decide which court should try the case.

Citing from the petition, he said the court-martial had no jurisdiction to hold the trial of the case filed under the women and children repression prevention act.

Nazir faces three years' imprisonment if found guilty by the Tangail court and a one-year jail sentence if convicted by the court-martial, the lawyer said.

Secretaries to the ministries of defence and law, area commander (logistics) of the army headquarters, chief of the army staff, judge of the Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal of Tangail, and judge advocate general of the army headquarters were made respondents to the rule, Aneek added.