Fans can fly foreign flags

The High Court (HC) yesterday gave the go-ahead to hoist foreign national flags across the country during the upcoming FIFA World Cup.

The court rejected a writ petition, lodged on May 27 by freedom fighter Mohammad Nurul Amin, which brought into question the legality of flying different international flags not just at any time but during the World Cup in particular.

Justices Nazrul Islam Talukder and Shahidul Karim presided over the case and discarded the petition on the grounds that it was not properly moved before the court.

Nurul submitted the petition to the HC on June 4 seeking a directive from the government to stop people from hoisting foreign national flags.

The petition said that supporters of different countries, which are participating in the FIFA World Cup which commences on June 14 in Russia, hoisted the flags of those countries during previous editions of the tournament in violation of the law.

As per the Bangladesh Flag Rules in 1972, no foreign flags can be flown without specific permission from the government, with the exception being foreign diplomatic offices, Nurul cited in the petition.

Earlier on May 28, another HC bench of Justices Naima Haider and Zafar Ahmed refused to even hold a hearing on the legislation.

The bench had also dropped the petition from its hearing list, Assistant Attorney General Saifur Rahman informed.