Larger appeals bench to hear Janakantha contempt rule

A larger bench of the Appellate Division will hear the contempt rule against Bengali language daily Janakantha’s editor and executive editor on Monday.

The four-member appeals bench led by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha gave the order on Sunday, the day earlier set to hear responses from Editor Atikullah Khan and Executive Editor Swadesh Roy.
 
The journalists appeared before the court, but their lawyer Salauddin Dolon filed a plea for new bench, without the chief justice, to hear the matter. 
 
During Sunday’s hearings Attorney General Mahbubey Alam read out Roy's article, published on Jul 16, which claimed war crimes convict Salauddin Quader Chowdhury's family was lobbying for upturning the death verdict. 
 
After the hearing, the chief justice said in his verbal order, “We have unanimously agreed that the matter will be heard by a larger bench on Monday.”
 
On Jul 29, after the apex court gave the final war crimes verdict in Salauddin Quader Chowdhury’s case upholding death, the Supreme Court issued a contempt rule over the article published on Daily Janakantha. 
 
In his article Roy wrote, “Salauddin Quader Chowhudry is a heinous killer from 1971. He is among those traitors who bathed most in the blood of innocent Bengalis. His appeal verdict is on Jul 29. Father Mujib! Here, too, your daughter is being made to stand with her back to a crucifix.
 
“If that is not true, then how did Salauddin Quader Chowdhury’s family have a meeting with those who were judging his case? How did they manage to get to the judges? Was it ISI or ULFA? Do judges ever meet the families of the victims? Is it part of their ethics?
 
“Why is Sheikh Hasina’s government busy trying to stop some judges from going on foreign visits now?” read the article.