HC asks legality of ‘fatwa’ by Laxmipur UP chairman

The High Court has questioned the legality of giving extra judicial punishment to a woman and a man by a union chairman in the name of fatwa (religious edict) at a village-arbitration at Kamolnagar upazila in Laxmipur in December last year.

The court yesterday issued a rule on a suo moto (of its own) move asking the authorities concerned to explain as to why the extra judicial punishment against the woman and man in the name of fatwa should not be declared illegal.

In the rule, the HC asked the authorities concerned of the government to show cause as to why they should not be directed to take appropriate legal action against the chairman of Char Martin union of Kamolnagar and the officer-in-charge of Kamolnagar Police Station for giving the extra judicial punishment and negligence to take action to this effect respectively.

The bench of Justice Gobinda Chandra Tagore and Justice AKM Shahidul Huq ordered the union parishad chairman and the OC to appear before it on February 22 for giving explanation about their roles with the incident of fatwa and extra judicial punishment.

The judges also directed the superintendent of police of Laxmipur to ensure the security of the victimised woman and man and to ensure their presence before the court on February 22.

The chairman of Char Martin union of Kamolnagar gave extra judicial punishment to the woman and man in the name of fatwa at a village-arbitration at Kamolnagar on December 21 last year.

The incident was informed to the OC of Laxmipur Police Station but the OC instantly did not take any action but asked the victims to lodge a complaint in black and white.

Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST) legal adviser and Supreme Court lawyer SM Rezaul Karim brought the issue of incident to the notice of HC bench on Tuesday for necessary order after an online newspaper published a report on the issue.