SC stays HC verdict on mobile court till May 18

The Supreme Court today stayed till Thursday the High Court verdict that declared unconstitutional the rules under which the executive magistrates run mobile courts.

The Chamber Judge of the Appellate Division Justice Hasan Foez Siddique passed the order following a petition filed by the government seeking stay on the HC verdict.

The chamber judge also sent the stay petition to the full bench of the Appellate Division for its hearing on Thursday.

Read More: Executive magistrate-led mobile court illegal

Deputy Attorney General (DAG) Motahar Hossain Sazu told The Daily Star that the executive magistrates can run mobile courts following the SC judge’s order until further order of the apex court.

Earlier in the morning, the government filed a petition with the SC seeking a stay on the HC verdict.

Delivering a verdict on three writ petitions on Thursday, the HC observed that empowering executive magistrates with judicial powers is “a frontal attack on the independence of the judiciary and is violative of the theory of separation of powers”.

The HC judgment means that executive magistrates now cannot run mobile courts empowered to try a number of offences, including illegal assembly, public nuisance, illegal connection of electricity, water and gas, and cheating at examination centres.

It, however, said mobile courts can be run by judicial or metropolitan magistrates.