The High Court has set Wednesday to issue its ruling on a writ petition seeking a ban on Al Jazeera news channel in Bangladesh, over what the government called a false, baseless and ill-motivated report by the international channel aired on February 1.
The bench of Justice Mubibur Rahman Miah and Justice Md Kamrul Hossain Molla was scheduled to hear the petition at 3:45pm on Tuesday.
However, as it could not start the hearing on time, the court fixed 11am Wednesday to hear it.
Earlier, lawyer Md Anamul Kabir Emon had moved the High Court on Monday. He also sought an order for removal of the news content from all social media sites including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
Posts and telecommunications, information and communication technology secretaries, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission chairman and the inspector general of police were made respondents to the petition.
Deputy Attorney General Nowroz Russell Chowdhury is representing the state.
After the investigating report aired earlier this month, Bangladesh government had dismissed it, calling it “false and defamatory” and a desperate “smear campaign” instigated by extremists and their allies, working in London and elsewhere.
On Saturday, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen also said that the government was exploring avenues to take legal steps against the Qatar-based news channel.
Other than the Foreign Ministry, Bangladesh Police Service Association and Bangladesh Army, among other professional bodies and organizations, also condemned the report titled “All the Prime Minister’s Men” as it stirred controversy.
