Chamber justice upholds stay order on case proceedings against Prothom Alo editor

High Court
High CourtFile photo

A chamber justice on Wednesday upheld the High Court order that stayed the trial proceedings against Prothom Alo editor Matiur Rahman regarding the death of Naimul Abrar, student of Dhaka’s Residential Model School and College (DRMC).

Chamber justice Hasan Foez Siddique passed a ‘no order’ as the state pleaded against the stay order.

Following the “no order”, the HC’s stay order on the trial proceedings against Matiur Rahman will remain in force, said his lawyer Mustafizur Rahman Khan.

Lawyer Mustafizur Rahman Khan stood for Matiur Rahman at the court while assistant attorney general M Saiful Alam represented the state.

Earlier, on 13 December, a virtual High Court bench of justice Md Rezaul Huq and justice Md Atuar Rahman issued the 6-month stay order while giving the ruling in the hearing of the petition to dismiss the case. The state appealed against the order on 21 December.

The Prothom Alo editor on 6 December filed a petition with the High Court, seeking for the case to be dismissed. The court passed the stay order after hearing on 10 and 13 December.

The petition said the investigation report had no allegations of Matiur Rahman being involved in the incident. He was not even present at the location of the incident, nor was he in charge of the event’s management or supervision. He had nothing to do with the electrical management of the event either. Neither had any witness mentioned Matiur Rahman’s name.