SC stays HC order on Tangail OC, UNO transfer

The Appellate Division chamber court yesterday stayed for four weeks a portion of a High Court (HC) verdict directing the withdrawal of certain officials to ensure a “fair investigation”.  The HC wanted the secretaries of public administration and home ministry and the inspector general of police to withdraw Sakhipur upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) Md Rafiqul Islam, who is also an executive magistrate, and  Sakhipur police station officer-in-charge (OC) Md Maksudul Alam. It wanted them to be stationed outside Dhaka division “for fair investigation” into a case of torture.
 The HC, on October 18, had directed their shifting for allegedly torturing Sabbir Shikder, a ninth-grader of Protima Bonki Public High School in Sakhipur upazila, while he was being held in custody. The UNO and the OC appealed against the HC order in the Supreme Court (SC), seeking a stay on their transfer.
 The chamber judge of the Appellate Division, Justice Hasan Foez Siddique, yesterday issued the injunction after hearing their petitions. He also asked them to file separate leave to appeal petitions with the SC against the HC verdict within four weeks.  Advocate Yusuf Hussain Humayun, counsel for the UNO, told The Independent that the apex court had stayed the portion of the HC verdict relating to the transfer of the two officials.
 On September 18, a mobile court had sentenced Shikder, a ninth-grade student, under the Information and Communication Technology Act for threatening AL MP Anupam Shahjahan via facebook. But the HC, in a suo moto move, declared as “illegal” the mobile court verdict that sentenced Shikder to two years’ imprisonment and acquitted the schoolboy of the charges.

SC stays HC order on Tangail OC, UNO transfer

The Appellate Division chamber court yesterday stayed for four weeks a portion of a High Court (HC) verdict directing the withdrawal of certain officials to ensure a fair investigation. The HC wanted the secretaries of public administration and home ministry and the inspector general of police to withdraw Sakhipur upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) Md Rafiqul Islam, who is also an executive magistrate, and Sakhipur police station officer-in-charge (OC) Md Maksudul Alam. It wanted them to be stationed outside Dhaka division for fair investigation into a case of torture. The HC, on October 18, had directed their shifting for allegedly torturing Sabbir Shikder, a ninth-grader of Protima Bonki Public High School in Sakhipur upazila, while he was being held in custody. The UNO and the OC appealed against the HC order in the Supreme Court (SC), seeking a stay on their transfer. The chamber judge of the Appellate Division, Justice Hasan Foez Siddique, yesterday issued the injunction after hearing their petitions. He also asked them to file separate leave to appeal petitions with the SC against the HC verdict within four weeks. Advocate Yusuf Hussain Humayun, counsel for the UNO, told The Independent that the apex court had stayed the portion of the HC verdict relating to the transfer of the two officials. On September 18, a mobile court had sentenced Shikder, a ninth-grade student, under the Information and Communication Technology Act for threatening AL MP Anupam Shahjahan via facebook. But the HC, in a suo moto move, declared as illegal the mobile court verdict that sentenced Shikder to two years imprisonment and acquitted the schoolboy of the charges.