Suspended government official Tapashee Tabassum Urmi will go to the High Court against the order to frame charges against her in a defamation case, her lawyer PM Mahadi Hasan has said.
Speaking at the Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Court on Tuesday, Hasan said: "We are aggrieved by the charge framing in this case. We will seek legal recourse in the High Court."
Hasan argued that Urmi's Facebook post, which led to the case, was merely her personal opinion about contemporary events and was not directed at the plaintiff in any way.
"Under Sections 499/500/501 of the Penal Code, a defamation case can only be filed by the person defamed. In the case of a deceased individual, their father, mother, or close relatives can file a case. The plaintiff in this case is not related to martyr Abu Sayed or Dr Muhammad Yunus by blood. Therefore, he has no legal standing to file this case. Given this, Urmi has the right to be acquitted. Since the court has proceeded with charge framing, we will challenge this in the High Court," Hasan said.
On the other hand, the plaintiff’s lawyer Khademul Islam defended the charge framing, arguing that Urmi had intentionally made defamatory remarks on Facebook to discredit a student-led movement.
"The plaintiff was an active participant in the movement and was jailed for 11 days. Urmi, a government official with no political affiliation, made the comments deliberately to undermine the movement. There was no legal obstacle to filing the case, and the court rightfully framed charges under Section 500," Islam explained.
Plaintiff Abu Hanif, a senior member of Gono Odhikar Parishad, justified filing the case, saying: "Urmi called Abu Sayed a troublemaker. If he is a troublemaker, then all of us in the movement are troublemakers. That’s why I took legal action."
According to the case statement, on October 5, Urmi posted a Facebook status making negative remarks about Abu Sayed and the chief adviser of the interim government Dr Muhammad Yunus.