Barguna court tosses out case against bdnews24.com editors over HBM Iqbal reports

A Barguna court has quashed a plea for a case against bdnews24.com for its refusal to remove old reports on cases against former MP and Premier Group Chairman HBM Iqbal and his family.

Barguna Senior Judicial Magistrate Nahid Hossain issued an order dismissing the petition on Mar 3, according to the plaintiff's lawyer Hasanur Rahman Jon.

Tariqul Islam Ratan, a Barguna correspondent of 'Dainik Ajaker Barta' newspaper, filed the plea on Mar 3, identifying himself as Iqbal's 'friend'.

Earlier on Mar 14, the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrates Court of Barishal dismissed a similar case against bdnews24.com, based on the same allegations.

After the dismissing Tariqul's plea for a defamation suit in Barguna, the judge said the application and the plaintiff's statement did not show that the plaintiff was not "directly harmed or aggrieved" by the news reports.

"The plaintiff could not show how he was aggrieved by the matters described in the complaint. At the same time, it is unclear what kind of defamation has taken place in the incident described in the case. Overall, the elements of sections 501, 502 and 503 of the Penal Code are not satisfied. Under the circumstances, the petition is dismissed under Section 203 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898. ”

In recent months, bdnews24.com has been facing intense pressure to remove reports on court proceedings and orders in cases filed against Iqbal, a freedom fighter and chairman of Premier Group, and members of his family.

As it refused to bow down to the unfounded pressure, Tariqul subsequently filed a plea for Tk 2 billion defamation suit to force its hand.

The petition seeks to bring charges against four top editors of bdnews24.com, including Editor-in-Chief Toufique Imrose Khalidi.

Identifying himself as a member of the Barguna Journalists Union, Tariqul said in the petition that bdnews24.com published reports about Iqbal and his family members at different times in 2021, 2007, 2008, 2015 and 2017, which he described as 'lies'.

He further alleges that because of the reports, Iqbal and his family suffered "massive defamation" both at home and abroad as well as "social, emotional and financial loss of about Tk 2 billion".

Tariqul had sent a legal notice to the four editors based on these allegations.

Acknowledging receipt of bdnews24.com's response to the legal notice, the petition said, “The accused did not give any reasonable response or answer to the notice. The defendants responded to the legal notice but did not delete or remove the news, which is very disappointing."

Tariqul also submitted his objections to the reports to the court.

bdnews24.com had published news on court proceedings and orders in cases filed against Iqbal, a freedom fighter and chairman of Premier Group, and members of his family in the past one and a half decades as had other mainstream media.

Barishal court throws out case against bdnews24.com editors over HBM Iqbal reports  

Plea for defamation suit against bdnews24.com filed in Khulna  

Bangladesh's first internet newspaper also covered the news of acquittal of Iqbal and his family members of the charges.

The reports are not based on bdnews24.com’s own investigation, but they objectively reflect the court proceedings and orders. As such, bdnews24.com does not see any reason to revoke or correct those reports.

In his order, the senior judicial magistrate of Barguna noted that the plaintiff alleged that Iqbal and his children have been 'defamed' by the reports published by bdnews24.com. According to the plea, the news publisher did not remove the old reports despite the fact that Iqbal and his family members were acquitted by the High Court.

Although the plaintiff's lawyer sent a legal notice, it has been alleged in the petition that the accused continued to defame Iqbal's family by repeatedly sharing the old news.

Dismissing the allegations, the judge said, "The complaint is dismissed under Section 203 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 as there was no preliminary truth to the allegations made against the accused in this case."

Asked why he wanted to file the case, plaintiff Tariqul said, "Dr HBM Iqbal is a freedom fighter and a former MP. He feels that the news against him has 'defamed' him. That's why he made the plea."