The High Court has ordered the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) to remove all the recent statements of BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman from social media.
Monday (August 28) High Court Judge. Khasruzzaman and Justice Md. A bench consisting of Khairul Alam passed the order.
On Sunday (August 27), Advocate Nasreen Siddika Lina applied to the relevant branch of the High Court Division of the Supreme Court.
On August 22, the High Court ordered the inclusion in the agenda for the hearing of the ruling on banning the speech of BNP Acting Chairman Tarek Rahman through media and social media.
Also Read: High Court plea to remove Tarek’s speech from Facebook-Youtube Among them, a pro-BNP lawyer has applied to be a party to the rule hearing on the ban on the speech of BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman.
Advocate Abdul Jabbar Bhuiyan, the former vice-president of the Supreme Court Lawyers Association and the president of the BNP’s lawyers’ organization Nationalist Lawyers Forum Supreme Court Unit, presented this application for partiality in the relevant bench of the High Court on Wednesday (August 23). The High Court dismissed the application after hearing that day.
Meanwhile, on the same day, the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) informed the court to give a written response to the rule regarding the ban on broadcasting the speech of BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman in the media and social media.
Earlier, on Tuesday (August 22), the same bench of the High Court fixed Wednesday (August 23) for the final hearing of the ruling on the ban on the speech of Tarique Rahman. Following that, the trial began. The petitioners recently applied for the hearing of the ruling, which has not been heard for about eight and a half years, regarding the publicity of Tarique Rahman’s speech.
The petitioner’s lawyers told the court that the notice of the rule was sent to Tarique Rahman’s home address in Gulshan on the instructions of the High Court. It is also advertised on the notice board of the Supreme Court and in a national daily.
In response, pro-BNP lawyers told the court that the address to which the notice was sent in Gulshan was not the last address of Tarique Rahman. He is now in London, so notice should be sent to that address.
In 2015, Supreme Court lawyer Nasreen Siddiqui Lina filed a petition seeking a ban on broadcasting the speech of BNP Acting Chairman (then Senior Vice Chairman) Tarique Rahman for making various comments about the history of Bangladesh and Bangabandhu. After hearing the writ, the relevant bench of the High Court issued an interim order along with the rule.
It was asked why instructions will not be given to prohibit the publication of Tarique Rahman’s speech in the High Court’s rule. Information Secretary, Home Secretary, Law Secretary, Inspector General of Police, Director General of BTV, Chairman of BTRC, Chief News Editor of Ekushe TV, Editor of Kaler Kantha and Tarique Rahman were asked to respond to the ruling.
On the other hand, in the interim order, the High Court directed the Foreign Secretary to inform the whereabouts of Tarique Rahman and asked the Inspector General of Police to give a report to the court stating the validity of Tarique Rahman’s passport.
Subsequently, notice of rule was issued to all the other respondents in the writ petition except Tarique Rahman in view of the address error. On August 3, the petitioner’s lawyer Kamrul Islam applied for the hearing of the rule. On that day, the High Court said that it will hear the ruling issued regarding the banning of the speech of BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman in print, electronic and online media.
According to the law, the High Court ordered to take necessary measures to prohibit the dissemination and publication of the speech or statement of fugitive Tarique Rahman in all kinds of media. On January 7, 2015, Justice Kazi Reza-ul Haque and Justice Abu Taher Md. on the preliminary hearing of a writ petition. The bench consisting of Saifur Rahman gave this interim order along with the rule.
At the same time, the foreign secretary was instructed to inform about the whereabouts of Tarique Rahman abroad. The court also asked the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to give a report on the validity of his passport.
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