A vacation bench of the High Court (HC) dropped Thursday a writ petition, filed challenging the newly formulated National Broadcast Policy-2014 which was from its cause list, saying that the petition is premature as any law is yet to be enacted about it, court sources said.
After hearing both the parties, the HC vacation bench comprising Justice Sheikh Hassan Arif and Justice Abu Taher Md Saifur Rahman also verbally advised the petitioner to move it before another HC bench after the ongoing vacation, said the sources.
The apex court is set to reopen on August 31 after the 37-day vacation, sources said.
Attorney General Mahbubey Alam and Additional Attorney General Murad Reza represented the government while petitioner Advocate Dr Md Eunus Ali Akond himself stood for the petition.
During the hearing, Mr Alam argued that the petition is not mature as any law on the broadcast policy is yet to be passed, rather a policy was just formulated.
In a query from the bench on how the petitioner is aggrieved by the broadcast policy, Mr Akond told the court that the policy affected all the citizens of the country as their freedom of expression, guaranteed by the Constitution, will be curtailed by it.
In the writ petition filed on August 18, Mr Akond sought a stay order from the HC on effectiveness of the policy.
He also prayed for the HC rule upon the government to explain as to why the National Broadcast Policy should not be declared illegal.
Mr Akond further said that the HC vacation bench that normally deals with the urgent matters might not consider the petition like that. "However, I will move before the HC after the vacation," the lawyer added.
Recently, the cabinet approved the National Broadcast Policy that was also published in gazette subsequently, sparking severe criticism from different quarters including the journalists and the civil society.
