HC rejects plea by Janakantha editor and others
The High Court yesterday rejected a petition filed by Atiqullah Khan Masud, editor of Janakantha, and five others seeking quashing of case proceedings against them. The case was filed under the Women and Children Repression Act for publishing a female victims identity in the daily. After hearing, a vacation bench of the HC, comprising Justice Mohammad Emdadul Huq and Justice FRM Nazmul Ahasan, came up with the rejection order.
There is no legal bar for the trial court to continue the trial proceedings of the case against them following the HC order, Advocate Helal Uddin Molla, told reporters after the HC order. According to the case, a woman had brought charges of attempted rape against then Awami League MP from Mirpur, Kamal Ahmed Majumder. On January 4 and 5, 2002, the Janakantha revealed the identity and published a picture of the plaintiff in its reports on the incident.
On January 19 of the same year, the woman filed a case with Ramna police station under sections 14 (1) and 14 (2) of the Women and Children Repression Act against them for publishing the reports in Janakantha. In June 2002, a Dhaka court took cognisance of the charges against six, including editor Masud, advisory editor Toab Khan and then executive editor, the late Borhan Uddin Ahmed. In January 2003, Masud and five others filed a petition before the High Court to quash the case. After initial hearing, the High Court stayed the trial proceedings and issued a rule. The court later made the woman a party to the matter. Assistant Attorney General Aminur Rahman told reporters that the accused would have to face trial following the HC order. But their bail, granted by the HC earlier, would remain upheld. Shahzada Al Amin Kabir, counsel for Janakantha, said they would decide about filing an appeal after discussions with his clients.
