Law Week
Shipyard owner kept standing in HC
A High Court bench on Thursday kept an owner of a ship-breaking yard standing in the dock of the courtroom on charge of committing contempt of court by breaking ship despite the HC restriction.
Master Abul Kashem, owner of Mak International Corporation, is standing before the bench of Justice AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik and Justice Sheikh Md Zakir Hossain since around 10:30am.Earlier on January 19, the bench issues a suo moto rule asking Kashem to explain why he should not be punished for contempt of court by breaking ship despite the HC order. The court on the day issued the rule following a report on The Daily Star stating that four people were killed in an explosion while scrapping ship in his yard on January 18.The court also asked him to appear before the court on January 27 for his explanation.
The same court also issued a suo moto rule directing the government to stop all kinds of scrapping of ships in the country until further order. The HC in March 2009 directed the government not to allow any ship in Bangladesh without cleaning its in-built toxins. But with the permission of the Department of Environment, Master Kashem, owner of MAK Corporation, imported three hazardous ships in December last year and started dismantling those despite the HC ban. -The Daily star online edition 27 January.
HC asks govt to redefine 'stalking'
The High Court on Wednesday declared all forms of stalking illegal and asked the government to define it in the light of present context. It also directed the government to take necessary steps immediately against previous stalking incidents. The HC bench of Justice Md Iman Ali and Justice Sheikh Hasan Arif came up with the order following a writ petition filed by Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association. The court also directed to consider stalking as 'sexual harassment' and include the crimes related to stalking in the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act to ensure punishment for the stalkers under this law. It asked the government to set up separate cells at police stations across the country to monitor and deal with the crimes related to stalking. The bench also directed the government to enact a law to protect the victims and the witnesses of similar offence.
-The Daily Star,27 January 2011.
SC clears way for poura polls
in Cox's Bazar
The Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way of holding elections to four municipalities of Cox's Bazar scheduled for January 27.The municipalities are Cox's Bazar Sadar, Teknaf, Chakaria and Moheshkhali.A three-member bench of Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice ABM Khairul Haque passed the order after disposing of a petition filed for vacating its chamber Judges' order that stayed an High court order.
The Election Commission rescheduled the polls after the chamber judge on December 19, 2010 stayed the HC order haling the process for elections in the four municipalities. The HC on December 15 stayed for one month the process for elections to the four municipalities in Cox's Bazar.A division bench came up with the order following a writ petition filed as public interest litigation by Kartik Das Gupta, a voter of Cox's Bazar. - The Daily star 25 January 2011.
HC rebukes SEC chairman
A High Court bench on Monday rebuked the Securities and Exchange Commission chairman for using the logo of the government in its letters suspending trading activities of six brokerage houses. Since SEC is a statutory body, it cannot use the logo of the government of the republic as per rules, the judges opined. The HC bench of Justice AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik and Justice Sheikh Md Zakir Hossain said, the SEC chief has committed a criminal offence by using the logo of the government. Earlier in the day, the bench summoned the SEC chief for his explanation about using the logo.
-The Daily star 25 January 2011.
HC orders probe into Bhawal land loss
The High Court on Monday directed the government to form a high-powered committee to find out the reasons behind the losses of government property at Bhawal in Gazipur. The court also directed the government to submit a report in this regard to it within three months.
The HC bench of AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik and Sheikh Md Zakir Hossain passed the order after 'Society of Justice', a rights organization, filed a writ petition as public interest litigation following publication of a report headlined "Pvt Project on public land" in The Daily Star on January 23. The HC also issued a rule upon the government to explain within three weeks why it should not be directed to take appropriate steps to protect property of government. -The Daily star 25 January 2011.
