HC asks writ petitioner to correct Tarique Rahman’s address in petition

Staff Reporter  :
The High Court on Thursday asked the writ petitioner to submit a new petition after bringing a correction in the London address of BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman, so that a notice can be sent to him before hearing on the rule regarding ban on publicising his statements in all media.

The High Court bench of Justice Md Khasruzzaman and Justice Md Khairul Alam passed the order.

Earlier on August 8, lawyer Qamrul Isalm on behalf of the writ petitioner prayed to the HC bench to set a date for holding hearing on the rule.

Then Justice Md Khasruzzaman, presiding judge of the bench, asked the lawyer how it will hold hearing on the rule when the respondent Tarique Rahman did not get any notice about the rule.

Lawyer Qamrul Islam said in reply that Tarique was not found at any address. However, pro-BNP lawyers strongly opposed it.

In view of this, the High Court asked the writ petitioner to submit a new application after bringing correction in the London address of Tarique Rahman.

Following a writ petition, the High Court on January 7 in 2015 ordered the government to immediately take steps to stop publicising BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman’s statements in the print, electronic and social media as long as he remains a fugitive.

In response to the writ petition, the court asked the Foreign Secretary to inform it in a month on what legal ground Tarique was staying abroad.

The HC also issued a rule asking the authorities concerned of the government and the media to explain in four weeks as to why publicising his statements should not be declared illegal.

The Inspector General of Police was asked to inform the court the status of Tarique’s passport.

The HC bench of Justice Quazi Reza-Ul Hoque and Justice Abu Taher Md Saifur Rahman came up with the order and the rule following a petition by Supreme Court lawyer Nasreen Siddiqua Lina, seeking its directives to restrict publicising Tarique’s statements.

Tarique Rahman, Secretaries to the Ministries of Information, Home, Law and Foreign Affairs, the Inspector General of Police, the Director General of Bangladesh Television, the Chairman of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission, the Chief News Editor of Ekushey Television and the Editors of Kaler Kantho, Janakantha and bdnews24.com were made respondents to the rule.

In the petition, Nasreen said Tarique, being a fugitive accused, had been making abusive and seditious statements about Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, violating the Constitution.

Tarique is a fugitive in the eyes of the law as he did not surrender to any court although several arrest warrants have been issued for him in different cases, the petitioner said

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He even termed the Father of the Nation a Razakar, a friend of Pakistan and a man of corrupt disposition, Nasreen added.

Along with the petition, she submitted clippings of newspaper reports on Tarique’s recent speeches.

SM Rezaul Karim, another lawyer for the petitioner, told the court that Tarique violated the constitution by undermining Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, as the charter mentioned Bangabandhu as the nation’s founding father.