The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday said Bangladesh Bank official Golam Rabbi, who had been allegedly tortured by a policeman, can file a case against the accused if he wants so.
A four-member bench led by Chief Justice SK Sinha gave the directive, asking authorities to record the case, no matter whether it is with police and court.
Julfikar Ali Junu, counsel for the complainant, said the case Rabbi would file either with police or any court “has to be recorded”.
On January 21, the SC stayed a High Court order for accepting the complaint of Golam Rabbi as the first information report (FIR).
Chamber Judge Hazan Foyez Siddique issued the stay order until January 25 sending it to the appellate bench for full hearing.
On Wednesday, Mahbub Uddin Khokon, a lawyer of the tortured Bangladesh Bank official, said now there is no bar to accepting the complaint of his client as FIR.
Khokon said the three-day stay order of the Supreme Court over the High Court order expired on January 25 and the state counsel did not file any petition seeking time extension.
That is why the High Court order, which had earlier asked the authorities to take the complaint of Rabbi as FIR is being considered as effective after January 25.
The HC on January 18 ordered the officer-in-charge of Mohammadpur Police Station to accept the complaint of Rabbi against cops as FIR following a writ petition filed by SC lawyers- Barrister Ehsanur Rahman, Advocate Julfikar Ali Junu and Jahid Hasan, a journalist of Radio Dhoni 91.2 FM.
The HC had also issued a rule asking to explain why the police torture on Rabbi should not be declared illegal and unconstitutional.
On January 9, the 28-year-old Rabbi, an assistant director of Bangladesh Bank, was allegedly tortured by Mohammadpur police sub-inspector Masud Shikder and some others in a police vehicle for refusing to pay a bribe of Tk 5 lakh.
