Staff Reporter :
The High Court on Wednesday appointed six lawyers as amici curiae (friends of the court) for expert opinions over the subject matter of the writ petition filed seeking court directives to ban broadcasting of Qatar-based television channel Al-Jazeera in Bangladesh.
The six amici curiae are, AJ Mohammad Ali, Fida M Kamal, Abdul Matin Khasru, Kamal Ul Alam, Probir Neogi and Shahdeen Malik have been requested to give their opinions in the court on February 15 next.
The lawyers will say over whether the writ petition seeking directions to stop the broadcasting of Al-Jazeera in Bangladesh is admissible and whether the court may order the closure of an international television channel in accordance with the prayer of the petition.
The HC Bench of Justice Md Mozibur Rahman Miah and Justice Md Kamrul Hossain Mollah passed the order after holding primary hearing on a petition filed in this regard.
The court asked the concerned section of the HC division to send a copy of the order to the six amicus curiae by Wednesday.
Writ petitioner advocate M Enamul Kabir Emon himself took part in the hearing in support of the petiton, while Barrister Khandaker Reza-E-Raquib appeared for the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (BTRC) and deputy attorney general Nawroz Mohammad Russel Chowdhury represented the state.
The court fixed February 15 for further hearing on the case, said the deputy attorney general.
Supreme Court lawyer Emon filed the writ on Monday seeking High Court directives upon the authorities concerned to ban broadcasting of Al-Jazeera in the country and to remove the contents of a report titled “All the Prime Minister’s Men” from all social media, including Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.
Al-Jazeera broadcasted the report on February 1 this year. But the government dismissed the report calling it “false and defamatory” and a desperate “smear campaign” instigated by extremists and their allies, working in London and elsewhere.
During yesterday’s hearing the presiding judge Md Mozibur Rahman Miah said, “Why couldn’t the video clip be removed from social media in the last ten days despite having specific laws and authorities? In the meantime millions of people in the country and abroad have witnessed it. It would be now meaningless to remove it from the website.”
What the else BTRC are doing if they cannot take any action over the issue, asked the court.
Then the BTRC counsel said that the court might pass order upon the concerned authorities to take action to prevent the documentary from being circulated on social media. Deputy attorney general Nawroz Mohammad Russel Chowdhury said that the BTRC should have taken action over the issue, but they didn’t.
