Law
week
Justice
Aziz becomes CEC
The government appointed Justice MA Aziz, a sitting judge
of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, Chief
Election Commissioner (CEC), ignoring the longstanding
demand of the opposition and the civil society for a consensus
appointment.
President
Iajuddin Ahmed yesterday morning made the appointment
on the advice of Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, causing widespread
resentment among the opposition parties whose demand for
a CEC acceptable to all was turned down. The government
maintains that there is no constitutional obligation to
hold talks with the opposition on the issue.
Aziz,
whose appointment came a day after MA Syed's tenure as
CEC expired on May 22, took his oath of office. Chief
Justice Syed JR Mudassir Husain administered the oath.
On
entering his new office, MA Aziz told journalists that
his first priority is holding elections in a free and
fair manner. Asked about the criticism from the opposition
parties of his appointment, he said he is not involved
in politics. " I am nobody's man. I rather am a friend
of everybody. I will try my best to serve the nation,"
he added. The mainstream opposition parties, which have
long been demanding appointment of the CEC through political
consensus, strongly criticised the 'unilateral appointment'.
The main opposition Awami League (AL) rejected outright
the appointment. -The
Daily Star, May 24.
HC
bans agitation at court, boycott
The High Court in an unprecedented ruling banned agitation
on the Supreme Court or any other court premises and boycott
of the courts. The suo moto rule came a week into the
speaker's ruling in parliament that suggested that the
High Court take legal measures against the lawyers' agitation
for removal of a controversial judge.
The
court prohibited gathering, congregation, picketing and
laying siege to the entrance to any court. It also slapped
a ban on boycotting or abstaining from attending any court
on the basis of any decision of any Bar associations or
Bangladesh Bar Council. The court also imposed a moratorium
on activities interfering with judicial work or operations
of any court or hindering access of any person to the
courts. No rally can be held or human chain formed or
sit-in demonstrations staged on the Supreme Court premises
or any court premises in the name of any forum or the
Bar associations. Besides, no lawyer can circulate leaflets,
put up banners or give statements to or publish them in
any way through the press or any other media. -Prothom
Alo, May 24.
Savar
Factory Collapse HC asks why not probe by judge
The High Court issued a rule asking the government why
it should not be directed to form a commission headed
by a sitting or a retired Supreme Court judge to inquire
into the factory collapse in Savar, find the culprits
and suggest measures to prevent such disasters in future.
The
court also restrained the chairman, managing director
and directors of the Spectrum Sweater Industries Ltd from
disposing of their assets and properties. It asked them
to show cause why they would not be directed to pay adequate
compensations for rehabilitating the victims. The court
orders came following a writ petition filed by four injured
workers and nine rights based organisations. The court
also issued the show cause notice on about 20 people asking
them to reply in two weeks.
The
respondents include the secretaries of the ministries
of home, labor and employment, industries, food and disaster
management, land, and environment. The deputy commissioner
of Dhaka, chief inspector of factories of Rajuk, chief
executive officer of Savar Cantonment Board, director
general of Fire Service, president of BGMEA and three
owners of the sweater factory are the other respondents.
-The Daily Star,
May 25.
HC
asks EC to collect info on MP aspirants
The High Court ordered the Election Commission (EC) to
collect information on parliamentary election candidates'
academic qualification, profession, source of income,
criminal records, if any, and other issues. The order
came against a writ petition filed one month ago by three
lawyers who argued that the EC should compile such information
on candidates and make them public to help voters choose
their representatives properly.
On
the day of filing the petition, the court had issued a
rule on the EC asking it to explain why it should not
be directed to take measures to collect information as
mentioned in the writ petition.
The EC did not oppose the rule. The High Court made the
rule absolute and ordered that when a person files nomination
paper for parliamentary election, the EC should ask the
candidate to provide a set of information through affidavit.
The required information are about the candidate's academic
qualification (to be proved by certificate), and about
whether they are accused in any criminal cases at present
or whether there were any criminal records in the past.
The candidates should also inform the EC about their profession
and sources of income. The assets and liabilities of the
candidate and their dependants should also be reported.
-The Daily Star,
May 25.
US
blasts Dhaka for extra-judicial killing, HR violations
The United States blasted Bangladesh for extra-judicial
killings, human rights abuse, repeated bomb blasts, dilly-dally
in investigating and finding out the perpetrators in the
August 21 grenade attack and former minister SAMS Kibria
killing.
The
criticism came at a briefing on Bangladesh at the US Congress
in the Washington DC where the US Congressional leaders
recommended Bangladesh's inclusion in the Millennium Challenge
Account (MCA) and allocated about $100 million in assistance
for Bangladesh to be disbursed through the USAID this
year.
If
included in the programme, the quantum of US development
assistance to Bangladesh is expected to be doubled within
a year. At the meeting, overall political, social and
human rights issues came up for discussion that witnessed
both appreciation and criticism. In a report placed before
the briefing, country's political and social issues received
mild criticism while empowerment of women and social sector
development was highly appreciated. The congressional
hearing expressed doubt over the election system of the
country and proposed for UN election observation.Congressman
Joseph Crowley, presiding over the session organised by
the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, urged the US administration
to help Bangladesh sustain its democratic and economic
strides through increased development assistance.
A
panel of administration officials were present to brief
the Congress on recent developments in Bangladesh that
included Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South
Asia John Gastright and USAID Mission Director for Bangladesh
Gene George.The second session constituted by independent
experts including NDI Resident Director in Bangladesh
Owen Lippert, South Asia expert at the US Institute of
Peace Christine Fair and US Chapter of the Amnesty International
T Kumar.
Awami
League's senior leader Suranjit Sengupta and top US leaders
of ruling BNP and AL were present at the briefing. After
the hearing, Foreign Minister M Morshed Khan and Suranjit
Sengupta met Crowley. Khan was not present at the hearing.
- BD News, May
26.
Corresponding
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