SC to hear govt petition April 11

The Supreme Court (SC) will hear a petition filed by the government to continue the investigation of a case against internationally acclaimed photographer Shahidul Alam on April 11.

Chamber Judge Justice Hasan Foez Siddique yesterday sent the petition to the full bench, after a brief hearing on it.

Earlier on March 14, the High Court (HC) bench of Justice Sheikh Hassan Arif and Justice Razik-Al-Jalil stayed the investigation of the case for three months.

The court also issued a rule asking the government to explain why the continuation of probing the case filed under section 57 of the ICT Act should not be declared illegal and contradictory to the Digital Security Act-2018 and the constitution.

Following the order and rule, the government recently filed another petition with the apex court seeking cancellation of the stay order.

During the brief hearing yesterday, Justice Siddique did not stay the HC order.

Attorney General Mahbubey Alam moved the petition on behalf of the state while Advocate AF Hasan Ariff appeared for Shahidul Alam.