Executive magistrates can run mobile courts till Jul 2

The Supreme Court today cleared the way for executive magistrates to run mobile courts till July 2.

The court extended a chamber judge’s order that stayed till May 18 a HC verdict that declared “unconstitutional” the rules under which the executive magistrates run mobile courts.

Chamber Judge of the Appellate Division Justice Hasan Foez Siddique passed the stay order on May 14.

A seven-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by chief Justice Shurendra Kumar Sinha passed today’s order after hearing three separate petitions filed by the government seeking a stay on the verdict delivered by the High Court on May 11.

While delivering the verdict on three writ petitions, the HC on that day also observed that empowering executive magistrates with judicial powers is “a frontal attack on the independence of the judiciary and is violative of the theory of separation of powers”.

Between 2011 and 2012, 19 people, including Aesthetic Properties Development Limited Chairman Kamruzzaman Khan, filed the three petitions. The HC issued separate rules questioning the legality of some provisions of the Mobile Court Act during that period.

On September 14, 2011, a mobile court sentenced Kamruzzaman to 30 days' imprisonment on charges of violating some provisions of the law on building construction. He got released from prison on bail on September 20 that year.

He filed a writ petition with the HC the following month, challenging the legality of some provisions of the Mobile Court Act.

Another writ petition was filed by Mojibur Rahman, owner of a multi-storey building in the capital, in December 2011. A mobile court convicted and fined him Tk 10 lakh on September 13 that year on charges of violating the building construction law.

He lodged the petition, challenging some provisions of the act and seeking refund of the fine.

The third writ petition was filed by 17 bakery owners, including Md Saifullah in Dinajpur, in May 2012. It sought HC directives on the government to formulate guidelines for ensuring that mobile courts have food experts and necessary equipment during drives against food adulteration.

Source: thedailystar