The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court yesterday granted three separate leave to appeal petitions filed by the government challenging the High Court verdict over the mobile court. The five-member bench of the apex court headed by Acting Chief Justice Abdul Wahhab Miah passed the order, fixing February 13 for hearing the three appeals. The Appellate Division bench asked the government to submit the summary of the appeals in next three weeks. The writ petitioners have also been asked to submit their concise statements in a week after the government submits its statements. Executive magistrates can conduct mobile courts until disposal of the appeals, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam told reporters. The punishment given by executive magistrate should be examined, said he.

Earlier on January 9, the SC came up with an order that the operation of mobile court by the executive magistrate would continue until disposal of three appeals filed by the government against the HC verdict.

The three leave to appeal petitions were filed by the law ministry and the home ministry.

Attorney general Mahbube Alam, deputy attorney general Motahar Hossain Saju, senior lawyers Barrister Amir-ul Islam and Abdul Matin Khasru moved in the court on behalf of the state, while Barrister Hassan MH Azim moved for the writ petitioners.

During an earlier hearing in the case on January 3, the acting CJ had said that he himself felt unnerved by the process in which the mobile courts punished people. On May 11, the High Court declared illegal of the operation of mobile court by the executive magistrate. The HC also observed that empowering executive magistrates with judicial powers was “a frontal attack on the independence of the judiciary and violated the theory of separation of powers”.