High Court summons Cyber Crimes Tribunal judge to explain verdict declaring bail petitions ‘ineffective’

The High Court has ordered Dhaka’s Cyber Crimes Tribunal judge KM Shamsul Alam to appear before it and explain his verdict.

British Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce President MR Chowdhury (Matab) was also ordered to be present at the court on July 27.

The bench of Justice Quazi Reza-Ul Hoque and Justice Abu Taher Md Saifur Rahman issued the summons on Wednesday following a writ petition.

Petitioner Subir Nandi Das stood for himself at the hearing. Deputy Attorney General Taposh Kumar Biswas and Assistant Attorney General Protikar Chakma represented the State.

Biswas told bdnews24.com the court ordered Matab to explain why he should not face contempt of court charges for making ‘offensive’ comments against judges at a talk show aired by Channel 9’s UK operations.

The Cyber Crimes Tribunal judge was summoned to explain why he in the verdict said the bail petitions by Matab were ‘ineffective’, he said.

On May 24, Matab surrendered to the tribunal and pleaded for bail in a case filed over the comments.

But he and his lawyer were not present in the hearing.

For their absence, the court declared all his petitions ‘ineffective’.

Writ petitioner Nandi said bail petitions can be granted or rejected but cannot be ‘declared ineffective’.