Hearing on Fatwa begins
FE Team | Published: March 02, 2011 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00
Hearing on an appeal against the High Court ban on Fatwa has begun, reports bdnews24.com.
The proceedings began Tuesday at the Appellate Division's regular bench headed by Chief Justice ABM Khairul Haque.
In a landmark verdict on Jan 01, 2001, the High Court had declared Fatwa, extrajudicial decrees issued by makeshift courts, illegal.
Two people-Mufti Tayeb and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad-filed a petition the same year challenging the verdict.
On February 14, the High Court appointed 10 senior lawyers as amicus curie to take part in the hearing on the appeal. They are TH Khan, Rafiq-ul-Huq, Rokanuddin Mahmud, Mahmudul Islam, M Zahir, ABM Nurul Islam, A F Hassan Arif, MI Faruqi, Tanya Amir and Rabeya Bhuiyan.
At Tuesday's hearing, seven of the eight Appellate Division judges were present, except justice Nazmun Ara Sultana, who had passed the original verdict.
Dr Kamal Hossain took part in the hearing on behalf of Ain O Salish Kendra, while Nazrul Islam on behalf of the petitioners.
The court asked both the parties to present their arguments.
Dr Hossain began his argument questioning whether it was constitutional to support Fatwa. "The constitution is the source of all power, as it was formulated through a national consensus. When anyone speaks for persecution in the name of Fatwa, we must ask, does the constitution give us that right?"
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