‘Mizanur is a habitual offender’

A lawyer has told the High Court during a contempt of court hearing that Bengali daily Prothom Alo’s Joint Editor Mizanur Rahman Khan has been habitually criticising the court’s functioning in his articles.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 9 March 2014, 04:11 PM
Updated : 9 March 2014, 05:26 PM

Another lawyer urged the court to take action to prevent ‘contemptuous’ articles on the High Court proceedings.

The High Court on Sunday held the hearing on its contempt rule issued on Prothom Alo Editor Motiur Rahman and Joint Editor Khan for publishing last Thursday two articles critical of the court’s functioning.

As per the law, Advocate Ahsanul Karim pointed out, once the High Court issues a contempt of court rule against anyone, they need to make clear the same day whether they intend to apologise or contest the rule. “But he didn’t do that. That means he will proceed with the legal battle.”

“Writing contemptuous articles is his habit. Earlier, he had made serious contemptuous comments on Appellate Division Justice AHM Shamsuddin Choudhury. Several courts had also earlier issued contempt of court rules against him. He (Mizanur) considers it to be only a rule,” he added.

Advocate Salahuddin Dolon, who took part in the hearing on his own volition, said no knowledgeable person would publish such a report. "He (Mizanur) is provoking the people against the court.”

Dolon said four contempt rules were long pending against Mizanur Rahman Khan. "Why have they not been settled? That makes him believe that he can’t be tried.”

The High Court began hearing arguments on the contempt of court rule on Prothom Alo at around 2:30pm in presence of Mizanur Rahman Khan in the courtroom.

At the outset, the court issued a contempt rule against two dailies - Dainik Samakal and Naya Diganta - for publishing reports following statements by several journalists’ organisations demanding withdrawal of Barrister Rokanuddin Mahmud's comments during a court hearing.

The court has also summoned Dhaka Reporters’ Unity President Shahed Chowdhury and General Secretary Ilias Khan to appear and explain their statements on demanding withdrawal of the senior lawyer’s argument in a contempt of court case filed against Prothom Alo.

About the statements of the journalists on a sub-judice issue, Advocate Dolon said, “It’s a cheap style. When you fail, you involve your community.”

At the beginning of the hearing on Sunday, the judge said, apparently attracting Barrister Mahmud's attention that a question may be raised later on whether we can hold the hearing in the case.

Barrister Mahmud said, “There’s a specific (High Court) bench to hold the hearing on a contempt of court rule for violation of the court order. But any judge can hold the hearing if anyone intentionally attacks the judiciary or attacks any judge.”

Agreeing with the reply, the court said that it made the issue clear so that no problem will arise if this question was asked later.

During the hearing, lawyer Kazi Aktar Hamid said, “Mizanur Rahman Khan knew that if he published the reckless news then he would be scandalising the dignity of the court. He hasn’t published an official apology in the newspaper and that he made a mistake and belittled the dignity and honour of judges and lawyers of the court.”

“The writing itself reflects that Mizanur Rahman Khan was acting as an appellate authority by passing comments and opinions about the competence of lawyers and judges of the Supreme Court.”

“He used fake interviews and fake learning from the so-called sources. This is a type of journalism which produces no well researched news and instead uses eye-catching headline to sell more newspapers.”

“He used techniques and exaggerated events which never existed. He is a scandal-monger and is always looking for sensationalism,” Hamid said.

He continued, “He (Khan) has made an attempt to sensationalise the news in order to drive up circulation. He was deficient in judgement and prepared the news in an unethical fashion. This is known as ‘nude journalism’, also known as ‘yellow kid journalism’ or ‘yellow journalism’.”