The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

Chief Adviser Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed yesterday directed all government officials and employees of the Republic to extend their all out cooperation to the Judiciary in discharging its responsibilities as per directive of the Constitution.

"Through the effectiveness of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Ordinance -2007 from today (November 1, 2007), in line with the decision of the Supreme Court led by the Chief Justice, two different magistracies -judicial and executive -started their journey. This day is, therefore, a memorable day for millions of Bangladeshis who seek justice in society, economy and governance," he said this while inaugurating the historic separation of the judiciary from the executive branch of the government at a function in the city.

The Chief Adviser urged all officials working in both executive and judicial branches of the government to perform their respective responsibilities with honesty, sincerity, patriotism and farsightedness for public welfare.

He hoped that the judiciary department would carry out their responsibility as per expectations of people and fulfill its duties to the Constitution of Bangladesh with vigour and integrity holding the slogan: "The words of justice must not go in vain."

Greeting the countrymen on the auspicious occasion he said the glorious day would forever be remembered as a milestone in the forward march towards establishing good governance and rule of law in the country.

As part of the formal inauguration of the separation of the judiciary the Chief Adviser flanked by the Chief Justice and the Adviser for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, inaugurated Dhaka District Judicial Magistracy and Dhaka Metropolitan Magistracy by unveiling a plaque of the inaugural stones at a function at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre (BCFCC) at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in the city.

Chief Justice Md Ruhul Amin addressed as the chief guest at the function chaired by Adviser for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Barrister Mainul Hosein. Secretary- in-charge of the Ministry of Law Kazi Habibul Awal gave the welcome address.

Former Chief Justices-Mostafa Kamal, M Habibur Rahman, Latifur Rahman, Mahmudul Amin Chowdhury, KM Hasan and Syed JR Mudassir Husain were present at the function.

Advisers, former chiefs of the caretaker governments, sitting and former judges of the Supreme Court, chiefs of naval staff and air staff, diplomats, eminent lawyers and high civil and military officials were also present at the function.

Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed said the separation of judiciary is undoubtedly a timely and legal step, but this separation is not enough to ensure justice.

The measures, he said, have led to the initiation of significant reforms in the judiciary magistracy but for its true success, it is imperative that reforms should also take place in three other pillars of the criminal justice system-the police, the courts and the legal profession.

The Chief Adviser said during its limited period it may not be possible for the present government to complete the reform tasks in these fields, but he firmly spoke at the function about his Government's resolve to take the process ahead.

He assured the government would ensure necessary legal powers and support for the executive magistrates so that they can discharge their administrative responsibilities smoothly.

Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed said there is necessity of executive magistrates in the interest of good governance and welfare-oriented efficient administration in areas such as preventive measures for protecting law and order, setting up of mobile courts for various reasons, land acquisition and so on.

He made it clear that the measures the government is taking do not in any way reflect a lack of confidence in any segment of the administration.

"We have firm faith in the officials of all our departments. The government only wants that the officers and employees will discharge their responsibilities properly in accordance to their respective positions," he explained.

In this regard, he referred that the countries where the judicial and executive branches have been separated, empowered administrations backed by law remain an integral part of the state.

"We must emerge successful in preserving and strengthening our democratic culture, socio-economic progress, good governance and rule of law through united efforts," he said.

Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed said there would be some initial challenges associated with the launching of anything as momentous as the separation of the judiciary especially with regards to manpower and physical infrastructure.

He, however, said that his government is fully committed and sincere in solving the problems gradually.

The Chief Adviser said the powers and responsibilities of the state in a democratic country like Bangladesh rest with three separate organs as the executive, the legislature and the judiciary.

Throughout the history, the doctrine of separation of power of the state has been considered essential to the fulfillment of democracy, he said.

He said the country would have to intensify the struggle to make the independence, earned at the cost of blood of three million martyrs, more meaningful, and to realise the noble goals of economic emancipation and a society based on justice.

"We must be successful through united effort in flourishing democracy in the country, socio-economic progress and establishing rule of law," he said.

Chief Justice Md Ruhul Amin called upon all Judicial Magistrates to remain fully committed in discharging the assigned challenging task with utmost sincerity and dedications to restore public confidence over judicial process.

He said the Judicial Magistrates have to establish justification of separation of magistracy from executive.

The Chief Justice said he has firm conviction the members of the judiciary shouldering the new responsibility will be able to magnify the image of the judiciary and restore public confidence through their hard task and dedicated service.

"The Judicial functionaries wield judicial power which is actually not a power, but a pledge to wipe off tear caused by injustice," he observed

To make the law effective and justice delivery system functional, he hoped other organs of the State, including the Executive, would play a supporting role for making the promise of Justice a real one.

The Chief Justice said separation of judiciary from the executive was a long felt national demand.

He admitted that it has been too late in fulfilling the constitutional obligation but said, "It is better late than never."

The Chief Justice said he is aware of the problems and disadvantages with which the newly posted Judicial Magistrates will have to work during the transitional period.

Lawyers across the country observed the day as the Separation of Judiciary Day by taking various programmes.

Meanwhile, our correspondents from different districts report of beginning the activities of Judicial Magistrate Courts with huge enthusiasm and aspirations among the people.

The programmes included holding discussion meetings and brining out rallies.

BSS, Dhaka

Law and Information Adviser Barrister Mainul Hosein yesterday said after separation from the executive, the judiciary has started functioning as a complete separate organ and thus its dignity has been secured.

Recognising importance of the independence of the judiciary, the present caretaker government has endorsed the significance of human rights in a civilised and free country.

The Law Adviser was presiding over the inauguration of Dhaka District Judicial Magistracy and Dhaka Metropolitan Magistracy at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre in the city.

Chief Adviser Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed addressed the function as the chief guest and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Justice Md Ruhul Amin addressed it as the special guest.

Barrister Mainul said with the judicial separation, it is the responsibility of the judges to make the judiciary stronger, serve the cause of justice, and win the people's full and clear confidence.

"Through personal integrity and good conscience, the judges can earn the people's confidence in the judiciary," he said adding that "I have noticed strong determination among the judges to take the challenge most seriously."

At this critical time, the judges have taken the task for sharing the onerous responsibility to steer the country towards the goal of restoring democratic good governance, the law adviser added.

He said, "Together we must win the race in establishing stable democracy in absence of which all the efforts to make the judiciary independent and work successful will go in vain. In the past, the judiciary was not allowed to function independently for the simple reason of not allowing democracy to function."

It is not right to think that the judges have no accountability, he said adding that their accountability must be judged by their conscience and the oath of their office.

"The power of contempt of court will not save them," he said suggesting the judges to remain above suspicion.

The independence of the judiciary also means the cleansing of the judiciary by the judges themselves freely without outside intervention, the Law Adviser said.

Not the arrogance of power, rather the normal compulsion of doing justice honestly is the most important for the effectiveness of the judiciary, he said adding that the faith of the people in the judiciary gives the judiciary the real power and overriding moral authority.

Appreciating the historic role played by the judges in different times, he said some eminent judges have proved their judicious activism and courage whenever the nation faced crises in the field of the rule of law or the constitutional process.

Underlying the importance of the judicious activism for justice and good governance, the Law Adviser urged all to move together to establish true democracy for building a justice-based society.

"The change that has taken place opened up a unique opportunity for us to rethink and rededicate ourselves to serve the higher goals of a free nation honestly and to the best of our ability," Barrister Mainul said.

The judiciary was separated from the interference of the executive not as a favour to the judges, but to assign them with the heavy task for upholding justice and contributing to good governance vested upon by the Constitution, he said.

Elaborating the reason behind corruption and abuse of power that prevailed over the rule of law in the past, he said since the judiciary was not allowed to function freely, the system of checks and balances failed to work and the government degenerated into arbitrary and corrupt machinery in every way possible.

The Law Adviser said the present caretaker government assumed the responsibility with the expressed commitment to salvage democracy and uphold the rule of law, and for this, it paid urgent attention to the separation of the judiciary.

Barrister Mainul expressed gratitude to Chief Adviser Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed, Chief Justice of Supreme Court Justice Md Ruhul Amin, former chief justice of Supreme Court Justice Mustafa Kamal, Justice Latifur Rahman, late Justice BB Roy Chowdhury, Justice Mahmudul Amin Chowdhury, and eminent lawyers late Barrister Syed Ishtiaq Ahmed, Dr Kamal Hossain and Barrister Amirul Islam for supporting the process of the separation of the judiciary from the executive from their levels.

Staff Reporter

Rapid Action Battalion Wednesday midnight picked up Pushpita Noor alias Chhobi Noor, sister of fugitive Yaaba Queen and ramp model Nikita, and her so called husband MNH Bulu, a director of a private TV channel, from their Gulshan residence.

RAB-3 Wing Commander Sultan Ahmed Nurani said they detained the couple in connection with their suspected links with the underworld of dangerous drug yaaba.

He said they conducted the raid from 11:30pm on Wednesday to 4:am Thursday at their residence at Road-24 in Gulshan. But nothing was recovered from the house.

Earlier on Monday night, RAB raided the Dhanmondi residence of Mahbubur Rahman Joynal, Managing Director of hotel Purbani International, to arrest Nikita, allegedly the main yaaba dealer.

Joinal and Nikita both, however, sneaked out of the house after the arrival of the crime-busters. But, a treasure-trove was found at Joinal's house.

RAB said they had raided Nikita's residence at Karnafuli Garden City at Shantinagar and Joinal's house in Dhanmondi following the confession of Amin Huda, who was arrested with huge yaaba tablets worth Tk 15 crore on October 24.

A number of model girls, actors and actresses are also in the black list of the RAB in this connection, sources said.

Meanwhile, at the end of the four-day remand, Amin Huda and his cohort Ahsanul Huq were put on the second round of remand for three days.

As they disclosed important information in connection with yaaba deals, investigation officer produced them before the court yesterday seeking seven-day remand and the court granted for three days.

Sources said that RAB personnel would interrogate Pushpita, Bulu and Amin Huda face to face to unearth the underworld network of the smugglers involved in smuggling yaaba and jewels.

Quoting Amin Huda, a RAB official said Nikita and Pushpita are the trump cards Huda for running the roaring trade in the sex-stimulating tablets.

During the press briefing, RAB-3 Wing Commander Nurani said, "Such a huge quantity of jewels recovered from Joinal's house proves that he is linked to smuggling and there is an international ring."

About the exact figure of the recovered valuables, RAB officials said, "We asked three experts of Amin Jewelers, country's only diamond-supplying jewelry house, to measure the figure. But they couldn't yet. Some of the recovered diamonds the experts couldn't see in their life."

RAB said they had already interrogated Pushpita and her husband. "We'll continue our drive to hold Mahbubur Rahman, who is one of the main Yaaba dealers in the country. And hopefully we would manage to arrest him at the soonest possible time."

On the other hand, no case was filed and none was made arrest although three days have past after the recovery of the treasure-trove, foreign currencies and share certificates worth Tk 28 crore from the residence of Joinal.

Staff Reporter

Anti-Corruption Commission Chairman Lt Gen (retd) Hasan Mashhud Chowdhury yesterday said abuse of power is the number one problem in Bangladesh while bribe is the number two.

Speaking at the regular press briefing at the Segunbagicha office of the ACC in the afternoon, he said, "Although bribing and abusing of power are co-related to each other, specifically abusing of power means to favour anybody or organisation by not being financially benefited directly which is the most harmful to the country."

Replying to a question, the ACC Chairman said, "It is not possible to complete the trial of all the corrupt persons before the next national election in 2008. For the justice, it requires time."

Regarding the formation of the Truth Commission, ACC Chairman Hasan Mashhud said, "It is decision of the government whether it would fine or award imprisonment to the stakeholders. But everything has to be lawfully and we hope ACC's views would be considered."

When asked about the progress of ACC's autonomous process, he said it is under process yet and we would be clear by the next week in this regard.

In a reply, he said, "Although the ACC is not an autonomous body yet, we are getting all kind of cooperation from every quarters, including the government and media."

Talking to reporters Lt Gen (retd) Hasan Mashhud Chowdhury said at least 85 per cent corruption allegations are related to land and personal and to address all the allegations and problems is not possible by the ACC. But the ACC will monitor all these allegations and request the concern authorities to met the problems.

Replying to another question, he said ACC is doing nothing, which is violating the human rights.

Pulack Ghatack

Trade imbalance of Bangladesh is aggravating remarkably due to increased import of foodgrains in opposite to sharp decline in export volume mainly in the apparel sector.

Higher imports pushed the overall trade deficit to $3.458 billion in the last fiscal period compared to that of $2.889 billion in the previous fiscal period. Trade imbalance in 2006-07 fiscal increased by about 16 per cent compared with the same period of the 2005-06 fiscal.

However, the overall balance of payment is unlikely to face serious pressure, as foreign exchange remitted by overseas workers is showing a healthy trend.

The overall balance showed a surplus of $1.493 billion during the last fiscal period against the surplus of $338 million in the previous fiscal period.

Remittances sent by Bangladeshis working abroad crossed the $1.5 billion threshold in the first three months of the current fiscal year. That marks a 22.61 per cent growth over the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

The expatriates remitted 318.32 million dollar during the first 18 days of the current month. But the remittances in the third week declined to $69.85 million from $117.88 m in the 2nd week and $130.59 m in the 1st week, a Bangladesh Bank report says.

But, according to figures released by the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), export earnings in the first two months (July-August) of the current fiscal year fell 23 per cent short of the period's target of $ 2,642 million due mainly to sharp fall in garment export.

It also declined about 12 per cent to $ 2,033 million from US$ 2,302 million during the same period last year.

Import payment to the Asian Clearing Union (ACU) increased by 17.95 per cent during the September-October period compared with that of the July-August period of this year, as import of food grains, raw cotton and fabrics witnessed a sharp rise.

The amount of ACU payment has increased to $460 million during the September-October period from $390 million of the July-August period of the current year 2007, they add.

The country's foreign exchange reserve is likely to come down to nearly US$5.0 billion after making the routine payment amounting to US$460 million to the ACU by the first week of this month.

The export figures would continue to show sluggish trend until September '07, which may start to bounce back from October onwards with increased shipments, informed sources said.

According to EPB figures, export quantity declined by 11 per cent in July-August while prices declined over one per cent. However, prices of primary products increased about 9 per cent, but declined about 2 per cent in case of manufactured products.

The country exported garments worth 1.55 billion dollars in July and August, 14.3 per cent less than that of the same period a year ago. Earnings from the main export sector suffered setback during the period with woven garments falling about 23 per cent short of the target to US$ 762 million and declined 17 per cent from the same month in the previous year.

Knitwear also dropped 20 per cent from the target to US$ 792 million and 12 per cent from July-August '06.

Earnings from frozen food exports fell 9 per cent short of the target to US$ 99 million, but recorded 2 per cent growth from the same months in the previous year.

Other major items recording decline from the target and previous year's performance were home textiles, engineering products, handicrafts, leather and leather products, chemical products, ceramic products, computer services, jute goods, petroleum byproducts and terry towel.

Export earnings from vegetables, tea, cut flower and agro-processed foods crossed the target of the period and also last year's performance while raw jute, footwear and electronics did better than last year's performance but fell short of their respective targets.