ICT-BD [ICT-21] Miscellaneous Case No. 01 of 2014
Order: 02 December 2014
(a) The applicant is not a party to any of cases before the
Tribunal. But he being a member of the public, a human rights
activist and a member of the Supreme Court Bar Association
felt it as his responsibility to bring the contumacious comments
made in the articles by the contemnor into the judicial notice of
the Tribunal. The applicant has initiated the matter for
upholding administration of justice and ensuring public
importance, interest and concern.
(b) Freedom of expression is a fundamental right but that does
not give someone a free hand to say and to do anything he
likes. Under Article 39 of the Constitution of Bangladesh,
freedom of thought and conscience is guaranteed subject to
reasonable restrictions imposed by law.
(c)The purported comments made by the Contemnor in his
personal blog in fact intended to attack Tribunal’s authority,
jurisdiction and ability which by no manner of application
come within the ambit of “fair criticism” nor the same were
made on “good faith” or in the “public interest”.
(d) Creating controversy on the issue of ‘death figure in 1971’
was made pending case before the Tribunal and it was aimed to
cause hurt the emotion and aspiration of the nation to come out
from the culture of impunity through lawful trial in a court of
law constituted under the Act of 1973. Contemnor did it with
‘malicious intention’.
(e) Raising allegation against the Tribunal for making “factual
judgment without evidence”, raising allegation of giving
“pre-determined judgment”, terming Tribunals’ observation
as ‘misleading’ in the case of Abul Kalam Azad @ Bacchu
Razakar and raising allegation that the Tribunal repeated a
“mantra that has little or no factual basis.” and raising
allegation of “giving judgment in a very misleading and
defective manner” etc.[as found commented in the two
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