NSU: HC’s rule for investigation unresolved for 3 years

A High Court rule on militant activities by students of Dhaka’s North South University has not been resolved in three years.

A bench comprising justices AHM Shamsuddin Choudhury and Mahmudul Haque had given an interim order besides the suo moto rule on Mar 6, 2013.

It asked why the court should not order an investigation into allegations that students from the university were participating in terror activities.  

The justices had taken cognizance of various newspaper articles. 

They included a report carried by a national daily on Mar 6. It said police had failed to find the group of assailants from the private university that tried to kill blogger Asif Mohiuddin before the murder of blogger Rajib Haider.  

The court cited reports that said Mohiuddin’s attackers were from the North South University and that the institution had become a nursery of militants.

The judges observed that no action had been taken to arrest them. 

The secretaries for home and education, heads of police and DMP, the university’s chairman and the vice-chancellor were asked to reply to the rule in 15 days.

The interim order directed the defendant and university authorities to start their own investigations and submit their findings within a month.

According to court documents, the matter then went to another bench, comprising justices Sheikh Hasan Arif and Mustafa Zaman Islam.

The university submitted two reports that year; police and home ministry reports were submitted on May 19, 2013.

The court made the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) a defendant, saying online blogs were playing an integral role. 

It then ordered the BTRC chief to inform the court of steps taken to control the spread of militant activities through online content.

“The bench’s judicial jurisdiction changed after the order, so there was no more hearing. The rule remains unresolved,” Deputy Attorney General Jahid Sarwar Kajol, who represented the state in the matter, told bdnews24.com.

The matter can be taken to a new bench for fresh hearing if any sides want, officials have said.