HC asks govt to take action against Kazi Anis of Gemcon

The High Court (HC) has directed the government to take appropriate action against Kazi Anis Ahmed, a director of the Gemcon Group, so that he cannot engage foreign lobbyists or publish any materials that depict Bangladesh negatively, particularly with regard to the religious freedom of its minority groups.

The court also asked the home, finance and foreign secretaries and the Bangladesh Bank authorities to probe the allegations in this regard and submit a report within next 90 days.

The HC bench of Justice Fatema Najib and Justice Sikder Mahmudur Razi passed the order after hearing a writ petition filed by a Supreme Court lawyer and another one.

The HC also issued a rule upon the respondents to explain as to why their failure to investigate and take appropriate action against Kazi Anis for establishing of foreign business entities without permission and spreading misinformation about Bangladesh shall not be declared illegal.

It also wanted to know in the rule as to why the respondents shall not be directed to initiate a thorough investigation against Kazi Anis for establishing the foreign business entities.

Supreme Court lawyer Mohammad Moniruzzaman and poet writer and founder of Dhaka Lit Fest Ahsan Akbar filed the petition on Monday, challenging failure of the respondents to investigate and take appropriate action against the Gemcon Group director.

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