The High Court (HC) on Tuesday directed the government to maintain status quo for two months on publication of the gazette notification for implementing the recommendation of the 9th Wage Board for journalists.
The HC bench of Justice Obaidul Hassan and Justice Mohammad Ali passed the order after hearing a writ petition filed by the Newspaper Owners' Association of Bangladesh (NOAB) challenging the legality of the wage board.
Advocate Yousuf Ali appeared in the court on behalf of the NOAB while Deputy Attorney General Yasmin Begum stood for the state.
Advocate Yousuf Ali said, "Following the HC order, the government cannot implement the recommendation of the wage board by this time."
The HC also issued a rule upon the government to explain as to why their move of finalising the 9th Wage Board without giving any opportunity to the stakeholders (NOAB) for placing objections and suggestions should not be declared illegal.
Secretaries of the Cabinet Division, information and labour ministries and wage board Chairman Md Nizamul Haque have to comply with the rule in four weeks.
NOAB President Matiur Rahman filed the writ petition on August 5 seeking stay on the publication of the 9th Wage Board gazette.
On June 16, Obaidul Quader, road transport and bridges minister, said the 9th Wage Board award will be announced soon, after a meeting of the cabinet committee on the issue and once Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina gives her consent.
The committee, led by Quader, was formed to review the wage board award for journalists and employees of newspapers and news agencies.
The minister made the remarks after a meeting where all the relevant stakeholders, including representatives of the NOAB, journalist leaders and employees of newspapers and news agencies, gave their statements on the wage board award.
Earlier, the NOAB statement had termed the new wage board award unrealistic and said implementing it would be difficult as the industry was going through a hard time.
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