SC upholds HC stay on probe into photographer Shahidul’s case

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Sunday upheld a High Court order that stayed for three months the probe against acclaimed photographer Shahidul Alam by the Detective Branch of police in a case filed under the repealed draconian Section 57 of the Information and Communication Technology Act.

A four-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain passed the order by disposing of a petition filed by the state against the HC order.

At the same time, the court ordered the parties to take initiatives for disposing of the rule issued in this regard in the HC bench led by Justice Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury by December 18, 2019.

The HC order will remain in force following the SC order, said Barrister Jyotirmoy Barua, a counsellor for Shahidul Alam.

Following a writ petition, the HC bench of Justice Sheikh Hassan Arif and Justice Razik-Al-Jalil on March 14 also issued a rule upon the home secretary, the inspector general of police, the DB, Ramna police station officer-in-charge and Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate to explain in four weeks as to why the probe under the repealed Section 57 of the ICT Act would not be declared illegal as the section was contradictory to the Digital Security Act 2018 and ultra vires to Articles 27, 31 and 39 of the Constitution.

Besides, the court also adjourned the proceedings of the case for three months which was later extended.

Later the state filed a leave to appeal petition against the HC order which came in the cause-list of the Appellate Division for hearing.

Advocate AF Hasan Ariff and Barrister Jyotirmoy Barua appeared in the court on behalf of Shahidul Alam while Attorney General Mahbubey Alam stood for the state.

After the SC order, Barrister Jyotirmoy Barua said, "The Appellate Division upheld the High Court order that stayed the probe against photographer Shahidul Alam by the Detective Branch in a case filed under the repealed draconian Section 57 of the Information and Communication Technology Act. At the same time, the court ordered the parties of the case to dispose of the rule issued in this regard in the HC bench led by Justice Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury."

On March 03, Shahidul Alam filed the writ petition.

On the midnight of August 5, 2017, plainclothes DB personnel had picked up 63-year old Shahidul Alam from his Dhanmondi residence without showing any warrant or ground. Fifteen hours after he was picked up, the Detective Branch filed a case against him under the now repealed Section 57 of the ICT Act which was later replaced by the Digital Security Act.