Fugitives can’t be on any media

The High Court yesterday issued an injunction restraining electronic, print and social media, including Facebook and YouTube, from broadcasting and publishing statements, interviews and conversations of fugitive convicts and accused under trial until further notice.

The court made the order after a petition was filed to take necessary steps against the authorities of Ekattor TV for broadcasting an interview of fugitive accused Proshanta Kumar Halder, popularly known as PK Halder.

It also directed the TV channel to submit by January 10 the video clips of the interview and conversations PK Halder had with the channel on December 28.

The channel broadcast an interview of PK Halder at 10:00pm on December 28 and connected him to the talk show Ekattor Journal at 11:30pm the same day. There PK Halder refuted the allegations of laundering a huge amount of money abroad.

Yesterday, the HC bench of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice Ahmed Sohel came up with the order after hearing a petition filed by Anti-Corruption Commission lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan.

He prayed to this court to initiate a contempt of court proceedings against the authorities of Ekattor TV for broadcasting the interview of PK Halder and for bringing him as a guest to the talk show.

While passing the order, the bench said the freedom of expression is guaranteed by the constitution of the republic, but the freedom is subject to some reasonable restrictions.

The HC also fixed January 10 for holding a hearing on this issue.

Lawyer Khurshid submitted the petition yesterday morning.

In the petition, he said PK Halder is accused of laundering a huge amount of money and is a fugitive in the eye of the law as a lower court has issued an arrest warrant against him on November 25 and the government and the ACC are trying to arrest him through the Interpol.

During hearing of the petition, the lawyer told the HC bench that the Ekattor TV authorities have shown audacity and disrespect to the HC by allowing PK Halder to talk to the television programme as a guest and broadcasting his interview since a rule is pending against him.

He mentioned that another HC bench on January 7, 2015, directed the authorities concerned to stop publishing statements of BNP leader Tarique Rahman in the media as he is a fugitive.

Deputy Attorney General AKM Amin Uddin Manik told the HC bench yesterday that there was a serious repercussion as Ekattor TV had treated PK Halder as a guest in the talk show.

Issuing a suomuto rule, the HC bench led by Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder on November 18 wanted to know what steps have been taken to arrest PK Halder, who fled the country after allegedly siphoning off around Tk 10,200 crore from some non-banking financial institutions, and to bring him back to the country.

The court ordered the authorities concerned of the government and the ACC to explain the steps taken to arrest and bring him back.

In the rule, the court also asked the authorities to show causes as to why their inaction and failure in arresting and bringing PK Halder back should not be declared illegal.

On October 21 this year, another HC bench directed the law enforcement authorities to arrest PK Halder immediately after his return.

According to Canadian media reports, PK Halder is now staying in Toronto. He is the director of P&L Hal Holding Inc, a Canadian corporation.

In an investigation, Bangladesh Bank found that Tk 1,596 crore was transferred from International Leasing and Financial Services (ILFSL) in violation of the rules through 48 accounts of various organisations related to the directors and shareholders of the firm, said the bank officials.

PK Halder came to the limelight during the anti-casino drives last year.

The ACC opened an investigation into the involvement of 43 people, including PK Halder, in the illegal casino business.

The government issued a travel ban on him on October 3 last year. But he managed to flee.

On January 8 this year, the anti-graft body filed a case against PK Halder on charges of illegally amassing wealth worth Tk 275 crore.