Case filing stuck in legal quagmire

There is no legal bar now to file a case for police torture on Bangladesh Bank official Golam Rabby, Barrister AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon said yesterday.

He said the Supreme Court chamber judge's stay order became ineffective as the tenure of the order expired after January 25.

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Khokon, who is the lawyer for three people whose writ petition has prompted the HC order, said this at a press briefing in the Supreme Court Bar Association.

Meanwhile, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam told The Daily Star that Khokon's statement was not correct, as the issue is now pending with the Appellate Division of the SC.

The apex court will take the final decision on this issue, he said. Rabby was tortured by suspended Mohammadpur policeman Masud on January 9, who threatened to kill Rabby if he failed to pay Tk 5 lakh as bribe.

The HC on January 18, directed the Mohammadpur police to record Rabby's allegations as a first information report (FIR).

The SC chamber judge on January 21 stayed the HC order following a government petition. The judge on January 25 sent the petition to the full bench of the SC for its hearing. Khokon hoped that the police will record the allegations of Rabby as an FIR since the HC order has become effective after the expiration of the SC order.