BANGLADESH

The High Court's judgement on the ruling of the Speaker was 'provocative and conspiratorial', Minister Without Portfolio Suranjit Sengupta said on Tuesday.

His remarks came during an unscheduled discussion on the first day of its 14th session of Parliament.

Suranjit said, "Parliament won't exist if the Speaker's ruling is not enforced, nor does this judiciary or these judges. Issuing a verdict against his [Speaker] ruling is not only provocative, but also conspiratorial."

Speaker Abdul Hamid issued a ruling in May saying High Court judge Justice AHM Shamsuddin Choudhury violated the Constitution by making 'derogatory comment' about Parliament.

Following the observation, the bench of Justices Hasan Foez Siddique and ABM Altaf Hossain on July 24 declared the Speaker's June 18 ruling was 'non-existent in the eye of law' and 'has no legal basis after a petition sought the court's intervention over the Speaker's ruling that Justice Choudhury violated the Constitution's Article 78 (1).

Speaker Hamid pointed out on Tuesday, "The judiciary is certainly independent, but Parliament is sovereign."

He said that the Constitution was the highest law of the country and Parliament was its custodian. Addressing the MPs, Hamid said, "Let there be no doubt, let no one say this is a subjudice matter. We can most certainly discuss it here."

Suranjit later dubbed the court's verdict ad 'irresponsible'. "There is no martial law in which justices did not collude."

Earlier, Awami League lawmakers Tofail Ahmed and Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim, speaking on a point of order after the question-answer session, set the House on fire.

Parliament became heated with the MPs demanding revival of Bangladesh's original constitution of 1972, which allowed Parliament to impeach judges.

A former Commerce Minister and a long time party stalwart, Tofail also questioned the qualifications of the judges of the bench.

He said, "Now the High Court judges are appointed on political grounds, and I don't think Justice Altaf Hossain has even completed the mandatory 10-year attachment with the High Court before being appointed to the bench."

"I strongly believe this verdict was not decided in the courtroom," Tofail added.

He said, "We appoint High Court judges on political grounds, and I don't think Justice Altaf Hossain has even completed the mandatory 10-year attachment with the High Court before being appointed to the bench."

He said the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs should keep an eye on these appointments.

Tofail ended with a proposal to revive Bangladesh's original constitution of 1972, which allowed Parliament to impeach judges.

Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal MP Mainuddin Khan Badal said the court's observation was 'obsolete, obscene and obnoxious'. "This is a rather ominous sign," he added.

Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim also spoke on the same issue before Tofail. "The justices have given a bizarre, eerie verdict. The justices have stepped beyond their line."

"An independent judiciary does not mean anyone can say anything according to their own wishes. Justices are not beyond law. The judiciary is independent, but not sovereign."

He also demanded formation of Supreme Judicial Council to 'impeach' the Supreme Court judges.

Addressing the Speaker, Tofail raised questions over the identity and qualification of Deputy Attorney General Biswajit Roy who argued at the hearing against the Speaker.

He also questioned Justice ABM Altaf Hossain's qualifications for being a judge.

The senior ruling Awami League MP claimed recently appointed Justice Zafar Ahmed, nephew of Justice AHM Shamsuddin Choudhury, did not complete the mandatory 10-year attachment with the High Court as an advocate.

Justice Zafar Ahmed was enlisted as a lawyer in High Court Division in 1995.

Awami League MPs Sayedul Haque, Sheikh Fazle Noor Tapash, Fazle Rabbi Mia, Worker's Party's Rashed Khan Menon, JaSaD MP Hasanul Haque Inu and Jatiya Party MP Mujibul Haque Chunnu also harshly criticised the judges.

Menon said, "The two judges have violated the Constitution's Article 78. A Supreme Judicial Council can be formed against them and a motion condemning it can be adopted in Parliament."

However, Tapash told Parliament, "A vested quarter wants to lead Parliament and the judiciary to confrontation. We cannot fall for this trap. The court has given its observation over the Speaker's ruling. It cannot be called a verdict."

"This is an observation, there is no legal binding," he pointed out.

At this point, Speaker Abdul Hamid told him the court gave its verdict, not just observation.

"As the Speaker of this Parliament, I would like to say that this is not a case over land dispute or murder charges. This is a discussion about the Constitution. It cannot be sub-judice."

He said he would comment further on the issue later.

Dr. Anwarul Abedin, The Honorable Founder and Chairman of AIUB is NO MORE. Innanillahi owa innaalaihi rajiun. Let us pray for the eternal repose of his soul.

Gold edged higher on Tuesday to the highest level in more than five months as lacklustre manufacturing data from around the globe fanned speculation of imminent easing measures from central banks.

After U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke kept the door open for more stimulus measures last week, data on Monday showed a contraction in manufacturing activity globally and put more pressure on policymakers to take action.

Gold and silver rode the sentiment to multi-month highs as investors piled into the precious metals, aiming to hedge against potential inflation risks.

The most-active U.S. silver futures contract jumped nearly 3 percent earlier in the day to a 4-1/2 month high of $32.38 per ounce, before easing slightly to $32.27.

Silver, both a precious and an industrial metal, has risen nearly 10 percent over the past two weeks, outstripping a 4 percent gain in gold, despite recent data suggesting gloomy global growth outlook.

"Silver looks more at the stimulus implications of weak data," said Nick Trevethan, senior commodity strategist at ANZ in Singapore, adding that the strength in base metals had also helped underpin silver.

Silver is also notorious for price volatility, given the relatively small size of the market and limited liquidity.

Spot gold rose to $1,696.91 per ounce, the highest since mid-March, then eased slightly to $1,695.46.

U.S. gold gained 0.6 percent to $1,698.20.

Asia's physical market saw some scrap selling as prices approached the key $1,700 level.

"We have seen scrap flow into the market since last week, but the quantity is not great," said a Singapore-based dealer. "People think prices will possibly keep rising and are quite cautious on selling at this point."

Investors, eager for more decisive action on curbing the euro zone debt crisis, will be watching the European Central Bank's policy meeting on Thursday and a press conference with ECB President Mario Draghi.

U.S. non-farm payrolls data, due later in the week, will also be a focus for the market. A weak reading may reinforce expectations for another round of quantitative easing from the Fed, analysts said.

Moody's Investors Service has changed its outlook on the Aaa rating of the European Union to negative, warning it might downgrade the bloc if it decides to cut the ratings on the EU's four biggest budget backers: France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

Holdings of gold-backed exchange-traded funds rose to a record high of 71.729 million ounces by the end of last week. August recorded an inflow of 1.8 million ounces, representing a near 3 percent rise - the biggest monthly gain since November.

Parliament reconvenes for the 14th session of the ninth on Tuesday with the largest party in opposition, the BNP opting to stay off the proceedings again.

The session is scheduled to start at 5pm with Speaker Abdul Hamid in the chair.

However, the Business Advisory Committee of Parliament will hold a meeting at 4pm to finalise the Monsoon session's duration and programme.

The 13th session, which was the budget session, ended on July 8. According to the Constitution, a new session must begin within 60 days after a session ends.

The BNP-led opposition alliance has been absent for the last 29 business days.

Opposition Chief Whip Zainul Abdin Farroque on Monday also made his party's position clear on not joining the session.

Farroque claimed at a discussion that the government had rendered Parliament ineffective. "No notice from the opposition is accepted (during the parliament session). So we will not join the session tomorrow (Tuesday)."

He also gave a condition to bring them back to Parliament. "We will return to Parliament only after it is confirmed that the bill for a non-party election-time government would be placed in the session."

After an absence of 83 days, the last time the opposition parties attended Parliament was on Mar 18. Before that, the BNP had joined Parliament on Mar 24 last year.

Of the 317 business days in the last 13 sessions, the opposition attended only 55 business days.

Recently elected BNP MP from Tangail-5 constituency Mahmudul Hasan is waiting to join his first session, having taken oath on Aug 8.

Even if the opposition stays away, Parliament might just heat up over the High Court verdict that Speaker Abdul Hamid's ruling that Justice AHM Shamsuddin Choudhury violated the Constitution by making 'derogatory comment' about Parliament was non-existent in the eye of law and 'has no legal basis'.
The government on Monday appealed against the High Court verdict

Hamid had given the ruling rather reluctantly in Parliament on June 18 as MPs demanded steps after Justice Choudhury criticised the chief of the legislature. They threatened to invoke the constitutional provision to impeach sitting judges.

Ruling Awami League MPs Suranjit Sengupta and Tofail Ahmed have been deriding the court's ruling. Suranjit foresees heated response from MPs during the session.

Along with Suranjit and Tofail, ruling party allies Workers Party President Rashed Khan Menon and JaSaD President Hasanul Haque Inu also reacted harshly in Parliament over Justice Choudhury's remarks.

Parliament Secretariat officials have said that until now 17 notices are waiting to be placed in the 14th session, of which 16 are now being evaluated and the remainder is waiting to be placed.

The new session of the ninth Parliament is also going to see introduction of a separate gallery exclusively for the children for the first time so that they can watch the proceedings live and learn about its rules and regulations.

Police on Monday remanded in their custody six suspects for four days each in connection with the murder of Bangladesh Medical Association (BMA) leader Dr Narayan Chandra Datta Nitai.

Judge Mahbubur Rahman of the Metropolitan Magistrate's Court gave police the permission for remand after Detective Branch Inspector Ataur Rahman produced the six before him with a 10-day remand appeal.
Additional Deputy Commissioner (Prosecution and Information Department) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Anisur Rahman informed bdnews24.com of the development.

Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) on Sunday arrested the six for their suspected link with planning the robbery and murder. Later the suspects were handed over the DB police.

They are Dr Nitai's car driver Kamrul Hasan Arun, his chamber manager Saifur Rahman, compounders Tariqul Islam and Bakul Mia, and two others Rafiqul Islam and Mohammad Syed.

The elite force said Bokul, Rafiqul and Sayeed directly participated in the robbery while the other three planned the whole affairs.

Detectives had arrested Masum Mintu, 'Masud', 'Saidul', Pichchi Kalam, and 'Faisal', on Aug 25.

Masum Mintu, a professional thief, was presented by the police detectives on Saturday and he claimed to have stabbed Nitai first in the chest, followed by Bakul after they broke into the first floor of the house by cutting the grill.

Dr Nitai, a BMA Executive Committee member and Swadhinota Chikitshok Parishad (SwaChiP) leader, was knifed to death on Aug 23 early morning at his home on Mahakhali's National Institute of Disease of the Chest and Hospital (NIDCH) residential area.

Students of Dhaka University laid a two-hour long siege to one of Dhaka's key intersection, Shahbagh, on Sunday pressing for a five-point charter of demands including construction of an underpass or an over-bridge at the intersection.

The protest halted traffic in the busy hours of the day and led to severe backlogs in the area.

The protest which started around 11:45am was sparked by the death of international relations student, Touhiduzzaman on Aug 28 after being run over by a bus at the intersection.

The students withdrew their siege around 1:45pm after Dhaka City Corporation South's Chief Executive Officer Sultan Islam Chowdhury told them that they would be building an over-bridge at the crossing as an underpass was not possible.

"We will start taking measurements from tomorrow," he promised.

The students had initially gathered in front of the Arts Faculty building around 10:30am before taking out a procession up to Shahbagh intersection before stopping all traffic through the vital crossroads.

The university's Proctor Professor Amzad Ali urged the students to lift the siege, but was turned down.

They said that they would not relent until a senior government official assures them that their demands will be met.

Their demands included building underpasses at Shahbagh and New Market intersections, foot over-bridges at all the other crossings including Doyel Chattar and Palashi roundabout, ensuring strictest punishment for the driver of the assailant bus, providing Tk 10 million compensation for the family of the deceased from the transport company, implementing a strict ban on vehicles without stickers entering the campus and taking the initiative to submit a memorandum to the Prime Minister urging her to ensure security of the students.

BUET teachers on Tuesday said they will return to classes 'soon' after Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid assured them of removing the Pro-Vice Chancellor and withdrawing cases filed against the teacher and students.

Nahid met the BUET Teachers' Association leaders on Monday midnight in an emergency meeting in an apparent bid to thrash out a solution to the crisis roiling the institution and persuaded them to change their mind on taking classes.

The meeting began around 11:15pm at the minister's official residence at the capital's Minto Road.

Around 1:15am, Association President Mojibur Rahman and Nahid told reporters about the decisions the meeting had reached.

The minister said the two cases against the teachers and students will be dropped while Pro-VC Habibur Rahman will also be removed within one or two days.

Nahid also assured them of steps against all irregularities plaguing the top engineering university and hoped that all teachers will now resume regular academic activities.

Mojibur Rahman told reporters, "The cases will be withdrawn. (The minister) said, 'Consider the charges dropped.' We are also assuming that is the case. The Pro-VC will be removed. Necessary steps on other matters will also be taken. We are assured of these."

Teachers and students of BUET have long been staging demonstrations demanding removal of the Vice-Chancellor Professor S M Nazrul Islam and Pro-VC Rahman. The minister also promised them of 'necessary' steps about that in future, Rahman said.

Mechanical Engineering Department teacher Maksud Helali, who attended the meeting with the minister, told bdnews24.com: "We have been told the Pro-VC will be removed within one or two days. The minister has also assured us of taking necessary measures to investigate all the allegations of irregularities."

Asked whether regular classes will resume from Tuesday, BUET Teachers' Association President Mojibur Rahman said, "We will get back to regular activities on BUET as soon as possible. We hope to resume classes soon."

Asked about a specific date about the resumption of classes, he said, "Our colleagues and students are waiting for us on the campus. We will hold a meeting in the morning and will inform everyone. We hope to restart regular activities very soon."

Earlier, an association member, preferring not to be named, had told bdnews24.com 12 members of the association including the President and General Secretary were having talks with the minister at his official residence.

Earlier at around 9:30pm, the BUET Teachers' Association had its own meeting.

Nahid had called the meeting on Monday evening and the association in that meeting decided to sit with him to end the standoff triggered by ingoing demonstrations of the teachers and students demanding resignation of the incumbent Vice-Chancellor and Pro-VC.

Earlier on Monday, he had told bdnews24.com: "We've been trying for the last few days for resolve the ongoing crisis at BUET. I hope the matter will be resolved very soon."

Meanwhile, students and teachers of BUET pressed on with their protests on the campus on Monday.

The agitation gathered pace after the BUET authorities filed the two cases with the Shahbagh police around Sunday midnight accusing around a hundred teachers and students of attacks on the offices of the VC and Pro-VC, vandalism, ransacking records and looting Tk 0.3 million.

The teachers and students, however, postponed their agitation around 3pm for the day upon assurance from the Education Secretary.

Around 12:15pm, the students gathered in front of the civil engineering building, the demonstrating students took blood out of their arms with syringe and sprinkled it on the stairs in front of the VC's office around an hour later. They took out a procession on the campus. They termed this programme as 'voluntary blood shedding'.

Several protesting teachers reportedly also took part in the programme by giving their blood.

The Dhaka Stock Exchange's key index registered a gain of 16.48 points in the first hour of Monday's trade.

The DGEN rose 0.37 percent to stand at 4469.36 points at 11:15am amid fluctuations on the week's second business day.

Shares and mutual funds worth around Tk 1.49 billion had changed hands until then, with prices of 115 issues gaining, 78 declining and 26 sticking to their opening prices.

The previous week was marked by fluctuations in the DGEN. It added 191 points through the week and the average daily turnover was Tk 5 billion.