Hasina's lawyer mulls writ petition if legal notice goes unheeded

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A writ petition is likely to be filed with the High Court today (Sunday) challenging the legality of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) notice issued to detained former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for submitting her wealth statement to the anti-graft watchdog, if her legal notice goes unheeded.
"We will initiate a legal process if we do not get any reply from the ACC by the deadline, 10am tomorrow (Sunday)," Hasina's lawyer, Fazle Noor Tapash, who issued the legal notice, told UNB Saturday afternoon.
Replying to a question, he said, "We will file a writ petition with the High Court challenging the legality of the notice. Yes, the writ petition may be filed tomorrow (Sunday)."
To a query, Tapash replied that the ACC did not communicate with him after receiving the legal notice Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the ACC is unlikely to respond to the legal notice by the deadline-an eventuality that is likely to spark a legal battle between the anti-corruption watchdog and the former Prime Minister and Awami League chief, facing a series of graft cases from behind bars.
"We will sit tomorrow morning where the matter will be discussed…then we will see what happens," ACC Secretary Mokhles ur Rahman told the news agency Saturday afternoon.
Asked whether the Commission would be able to meet the deadline set by Hasina, he said, "The ACC is not thinking about the time."
Hasina sent a legal notice to the ACC through her lawyer Wednesday, questioning the legality of the notice directing her to submit the wealth statement.
Her legal notice asked the Commission to reply by today (Sunday) at 10am, failing which legal actions will be taken.
It was claimed in the legal notice that a deputy director of the Commission cannot issue such a notice to a former Prime Minister, rather the Commission itself should have done that.
Confirming the receipt of the legal notice, ACC Secretary Mokhles ur Rahman had said that the Commission in a meeting Thursday would take a decision about it. But, it appeared that the Commission did not sit Thursday to decide the next course of action.
According to bdnews24.com, former prime minister Sheikh Hasina Saturday expressed concern over the flood situation and said it did not seem the present government would be able to combat it, her lawyer and a relative said.
After meeting Hasina at the special jail, her lawyer Kamrul Islam and maternal uncle Sheikh Akram Hossain spoke about her concern to newsmen.
Advocate Kamrul Islam claimed that Hasina had broken into tears on hearing about the flood-affected people.
She called upon all to stand by the flood-hit people, they said.
Akram Hossain said Hasina did not believe the emergency government would be able to face the floods and was concerned about it.