The High Court (HC) on Wednesday appointed six senior lawyers as amicus curiae (friends of court) for expert opinions over the HC’s jurisdiction regarding suspension of airing Al Jazeera channel in Bangladesh.
The amici curiae are AJ Mohammad Ali, Kamal-Ul-Alam, Abdul Matin Kharsu, Fida M Kamal, Probir Neogi and Dr Shahdeen Malik.
Responding to a writ petition, a virtual bench of Justice M Mujibur Rahman Mia and Justice M Kamrul Hossain Molla came up with the order
Barrister Enamul Kabir Emon stood for the petitioner while Khandker Reza-e-Rakib represented the BTRC at the hearing..
On February 8, Supreme Court lawyer Enamul Kabir Emon filed a writ petition with the HC seeking its directives to ban broadcast of Qatar-based news channel Al Jazeera in the country.
The writ also sought the court’s order to remove the contents of a report titled “All the Prime Minister’s Men” from all social media, including Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.
Al Jazeera broadcast the report on February 1.
However, the government dismissed the report, terming it “false and defamatory” and a desperate “smear campaign” instigated by extremists and their allies, working in London and elsewhere.
