Writ Petition no. 7037 of 2004

High Court Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh

Facts: A. K. Rezaul Karim, a member of the Ahmaddiya Muslim Jamat Bangladesh along with BLAST, Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK), Kormojibi Nari, Jatiya Ainjibi Parishad, Nijera Kori Sammilita Samajik Andolon, and Odhikar, filed a writ petition challenging an order passed by the Ministry of Home Affairs purporting to forfeit publications of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamat and to prohibit publication, sale, distribution and preservation of the same under Section 99A of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898. The order contained a direction upon the Deputy Controller, Bangladesh Press for publishing the same in the next gazette. The Ahmadiyyas had been living and peacefully professing their beliefs without any hindrance since 1912, but from around 2003-2004 some vested groups (under the name and style ‘Khatme Nabuwwat’) started fomenting an organised vilification of the group leading to physical attacks, looting and destruction of mosques and homes in the most extreme cases.  At one point, attacks to capture Ahmadiyya Mosques continued for five weeks. After agitation by extremist mobs for a ban on publication, the Ministry issued the impugned order, emboldening the extremists who started seizing religious books from mosques with help of police and looted and vandalised houses. The Additional District Commissioner of Patukhali also reportedly seized publications though no gazette notification was published.

Arguments: The petitioners argued that the impugned order was made in colourable exercise of power inasmuch as while imposing the ban the respondent failed to identify which of the clauses of Sub-section 1 of Section 99A of the CrPC had been infringed and reference to all four clauses made the order illegal as being vague. Moreover, the order did not provide any cogent, specified, objective grounds for the forfeiture of the books nor for ban on their publication, sale, distribution or retention. The impugned order and forfeiture were therefore in violation of the guarantees of freedom of expression and freedom of religion, as well as the right to equality before law as guaranteed by Articles 27, 31, 39 and 41 of the Constitution. The petitioners also referred to Articles 18 and 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966.

Order: The High Court issued an order on 21.12.2004 staying operation of the impugned order and restraining the respondents from taking any further action to seize the books in question.

Status: Pending hearing

Laws Cited: Constitution, Articles 27, 31, 39 and 41; Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898

International Instrument Cited: International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966.