The High Court has dismissed a writ petition which sought a ban on Indian television channels, as the petitioner failed to present supporting documents for the petition.
The vacation bench of Justice Sheikh Hasan Arif and Justice Abu Taher Muhammad Saifur Rahman passed the order yesterday.
Deputy Attorney General Amit Talukder represented the government, while Abdul Matin Khosru presented documents on behalf of the cable TV network Star Group at the hearing.
On August 21, the High Court set August 26 for the petitioner to submit documents regarding Indian TV channels’ broadcast licences and financial transactions before the court.
Advocate Eklas Uddin Bhuiya, who represented the petitioner, told the Dhaka Tribune: “The government side and the lawyer of Cable TV network authority said Indian TV channels have permission to broadcast. I said ‘these channels are the major cause of the degradation of our society and culture. On that reason they can stop the broadcast of those TV channels.’
“After the hearing, the court wanted to reject the writ outright, but I pleaded them to reject the case as being not pressed, and they accepted it.”
Deputy Attorney General Amit Talukder told the Dhaka Tribune: “The petitioner failed to provide documents supporting the claim that Indian television channels were broadcast illegally and the financial transactions were also illegal. After that, the court rejected the writ petition as being not pressed.”
On August 7, a writ petition was filed with the High Court seeking an answer to why all Indian TV channels should not be banned in Bangladesh.
In the petition, Supreme Court lawyer Advocate Syeda Sahin Ara Laili said broadcasting by the Indian channels is a major cause for society’s degradation.
On August 3, Advocate Eklas Uddin Bhuiyan sent a legal notice through a registry post to the information minister, secretary of information and BTRC chairman, seeking to stop the airing of all Indian TV channels in Bangladesh within 24 hours.