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The government is considering elimination of all duties on import of edible oils, chickpea and milk food in the budget for 2007-08 fiscal year to stabilise supply and prices of essential food items, top sources in the government have told New Age.
   Import of these items are subject to customs duty, supplementary duty, infrastructure development surcharge, value added tax and advance income tax, which add to the soaring prices of food items, they said.
   Withdrawal of duties on import of major food items will cost the exchequer Taka 700 crore in revenue losses, the finance ministry estimates.
   National Board of Revenue has been asked to find ways to offset the revenue losses if duties are withdrawn, sources said.
   Currently, 28.90 per cent duties are applicable to retail level import of chickpeas and 13 per cent for bulk import. Crude palm and soya bean oils are subject to a total duty incidence of 21.90 per cent. Importers have to pay 50.75 per cent for bulk import of milk powder and 79.50 per cent for retail imports, revenue officials said.
   The council of advisers in two recent meetings discussed possible ways to get rid of unabated price spiral of essentials, hitting hard consumers of all levels, sources said.
   Most of the advisers favoured drastic cuts in duty on a number of essential items including chickpea, edible oils and milk food. Some of them proposed imposition of specific duty on such items in line with the pre-budget demands placed by the apex trade body recently, sources said.
   However, army personnel and high-ups of the para-military Bangladesh Rifles are very much in favour of elimination of duties on sensitive items to bring prices under control and help the government win the hearts of the nation, reliable sources in the government said.
   Edible oil prices surged by about 60 per cent in a year and 16 per cent in last four months, while milk food prices soared by about 25 and 13 per cent respectively.
   The government speculates that price of chickpeas will be exorbitant as its consumption will surge manifold during the month of Ramzan that falls in September-October, sources said.
   ‘The government is committed to stabilising the supply and prices of essentials at any cost,’ a government high official told New Age.
   Though global market volatility is cited as the major reason for commodity price hikes in local market, profiteering by a number of large importers adds to consumers’ woes, commerce ministry officials said.
   Lower middle class and middle class people have been blaming the government for its failure to keep essential prices within their reach, market sources said.
   According to National Board of Revenue statistics, about 36,000 tonnes of chickpeas, 25,000 tonnes of milk powder (bulk) and 2,60,000 tonnes of crude soya bean oil were imported between July and January of the current fiscal year.

LGRD and cooperatives adviser Anwarul Iqbal said that the government would relax the restrictions on overloading of trucks carrying food grains to control the spiralling of the price of rice.
   ‘Due to restrictions, trucks that come by the Jamuna Bridge cannot load more than 150 sacks though earlier they used to carry 230 sacks each, which is now causing a rise in transport cost,’ the adviser told reporters on Tuesday after a meeting on the unresolved issues between the Khulna City Corporation and the Khulna Development Authority.
   The KCC’s mayor, Sheikh Tayebur Rahman, and the LGRD and cooperatives secretary, Safar Raj Hossain, were also present at the meeting.
   ‘We have talked to the rice traders who have mentioned restriction on overloading as the particular reason behind the price-hike of rice. The businessmen also said that the restriction has made truck-owners demand exorbitant fares and also created a shortage of trucks that agree to carry rice,’ said Iqbal.
   ‘We will relax the restriction on the overloading of food grains, which will help keep the price of rice at a tolerable limit as the transport cost will come down,’ he mentioned.
   He said that the Karwanbazar wholesale market would be shifted to Tejgaon and three more such markets would be established soon in Gabtoli, Lalbagh and Jatrabari so that the growers as well as the wholesalers can have easy access to the city markets.
   Anwarul Iqbal and energy adviser Tapan Choudhury, worried over the failure of the government to arrest the price-hike, took the personal initiative of talking with the businessmen in phases to identify the reasons for the spiralling prices of essential commodities.

Seventy-two prisoners with disabilities could not be released from jails as a document seeking permission for their release is pending with the home ministry for approval.
   The prison authorities have over the years sent the files of the prisoners seeking permission for their release, it takes months, even years in some cases, to get the permission, senior prison officials told New Age this week.
   Two hundred and seventy people, sentenced to life imprisonment, also remain in different jails across the country even after the completion of their 20 years’ imprisonment on the same ground, the officials said.
   According to the jail code, the prison directorate writes to the home ministry seeking permission for the release of the prisoners who are people with disabilities and have served out the jail term. The home ministry, if necessary, sends the matter to the law ministry to see whether the move is justified.
   ‘They are aged and are unlikely to commit any more crimes following their prolonged imprisonment,’ said the inspector general of prisons, Md Zakir Hasan.
   ‘These people have been liability for us as we are facing the severest-ever accommodation crisis in prisons,’ he said, adding the process for the permission should be expedited on humanitarian grounds.
   The prison authorities are repeatedly giving reminders to the authorities about the release of the prisoners, but they are yet to know when they would receive the permission.
   ‘We are examining the files of the prisoners to see whether they can be released,’ said the home secretary, Abdul Karim.
   Asked why it is taking a long time, he said, ‘We want to release them after proper scrutiny.’
   ‘We do not want to see them in jails as they are aged and unable to commit crimes,’ Abdul Karim said, adding that he would expedite the process to release such prisoners without delay.
   Most of the prisoners have served 15 to 25 years’ term and some of them are women.
    They deserve to set free immediately,’ a Dhaka central jail official told New Age on Saturday.
   The government in the face of a growing number of prisoners in February decided to release the people who have served terms on charge of minor crimes or the aged or the people with disabilities unable to commit further crimes.
   ‘We could reduce pressure on the over-crowded prisons if we could expedite the process,’ said the official.
   The highest-ever 90,000 prisoners are now staying in the 66 jails with accommodation capacity for 27,000, and the number of prisoners is increasing because of the drives against crimes and corruption by the army-led joint forces.
   According to jail officials, most of the 270 prisoners were convicted on charge of major offenses such as killing, rape and acid throwing.
   They said the people who faced punishment for long 20 years in prisons for their misdeeds should not remain captive even for a single day.

The rain-interrupted first Test in Chittagong ended in a draw only after Bangladesh briefly accepted India’s challenge of getting 250 runs in 43 overs on the final day on Tuesday.
   The Tigers finally ended on 104-2 with Javed Omar hitting an unbeaten 52 before both captains agreed that neither side was unable to force a result.
   Out-of-form Bangladesh skipper Habibul Bashar made 37 much to the delight of the crowd, who never left the ground despite the chance of rain, which ate up most of the five-day contest.
   Despite losing opener Shahriar Nafees early in the second innings, Bangladesh still raced past fifty in 9.2 overs, leaving everybody present at the ground on the edge of their seat with thoughts of an unlikely win.
   The positive intent was evident when Javed, often criticised for his slow approach, greeted Ramesh Powar with a six over long-on, which was the first in his 36-match Test career. He also cracked eight boundaries in his 82-ball knock.
   However, the hosts eventually gave up the chase when Bashar holed out to RP Singh off Powar at long-on, shortly before the umpires removed the bails. Rajin Saleh was unbeaten on seven.
   Earlier, Mohammad Rafique took three quick wickets to prompt India into declaring their second innings on 100-3 after overnight rain delayed resumption of the day’s play until the afternoon session.
   Mashrafee struck first to dismiss Dinesh Kartik (22), caught at mid-wicket by Shahriar Nafees, before Rafique worked his magic.
   The experienced left-arm spinner first scalped Sachin Tendulkar, who added only seven runs to his overnight 24 before being bowled. Then he had fellow first-innings centurion Sourav Ganguly caught at deep mid-wicket after scoring 13 runs. Rafique finished with 3-27.
   When Dravid made the declaration, Mahendra Singh Dhoni was bating on 17 along with Zaheer Khan who was two not out.

Although politicians from both sides of partisan divide generally support the Election Commission’s proposals for reform in the electoral law, they differed with the commission on some issues including the proposed female quota of at least 33 per cent in different committees of political parties.
   They also expressed reservations about the proposals that the political parties would not form front organisations with participation of students, teachers and workers.
   ‘We generally support most of the proposals of the commission to bring reforms in political parties,’ the Awami League general secretary, Abdul Jalil, said on Tuesday. ‘But it will not be possible to accommodate 33 percent female representatives in each and every committee’.
   He said that the commission might have made such proposal considering the participation of women leaders and activists in street demonstrations. ‘But taking part in field-level programmes and leading an organisation at different tires are not the same thing’.
   Sultan Muhammad Munsur Ahmed, an Awami League organising secretary, termed the move to de-link political parties with students as ‘unacceptable’. ‘One may say that students should not play a subservient role to any political party. But it is almost impossible to control student politics by enacting laws’.
   ‘The student community played a pioneering role in different national movements and the initiative taken by a quarter of the interim government [to control student politics] is illogical,’ Sultan Mansur, a former vice-president of the Dhaka University Central Students Union [DUCSU], said. ‘Student politics will survive by its own strength and the students will not bow to any external pressure’.
   MK Anwar, a BNP vice-president, said that the proposals of the Election Commission were ‘theoretically good’. ‘But we must examine to what extent they are realistic to be implemented and if they are consistent with the country’s culture and politics,’ he said.
   ‘The commission has proposed formation of party committees at different levels through elections. In contrast, it proposed to include women in at least 33 per cent of posts of all committees of a party…How can a party ensure such a large female representation in the committees, especially in rural areas where women usually do not participate in political activities’, he wondered.
   Asked about involvement of students and workers with the political parties, he said, ‘completely separating the students and workers from the mainstream political parties is difficult as these sections of the society always played an important role in movements led by political parties to protect people’s right in the past’.
   Anwar lamented that the Election Commission seemed reluctant to discuss the reform proposals with politicians. ‘The commission is holding discussions on reforms in the electoral process. But it has not discussed the issue with the political parties or any key politicians as yet’, he said.
   The Communist Party of Bangladesh general secretary, Mujahidul Islam Selim, said the spirit of incorporating women in different committees is appropriate. ‘But the proposed percentage is unrealistic’.
   He said the student bodies would not be front organisations of any political party. ‘But students should be allowed to form organisation to protect their rights. Independent trade unions must be allowed to continue’, he added.
   Jatiya Party presidium member Kazi Feroz Rashid and Workers Party general secretary Bimal Biswas shared the views expressed by AL, BNP and CPB leaders on the issue of women representation in political parties.
   Unlike them, Feroz Rashid said, ‘We do support the idea of keeping student politics and trade unions separate from the political parties’.
   Bimal Biswas said, ‘We do not subscribe to the idea of keeping student politics and trade unions isolated from mainstream political activities’.
   In draft proposals for reform in the Representation of People Order, 1972, the Election Commission said, a political party will be eligible for registration if it has won at least one seat in any of the parliamentary elections held since independence or obtained no less than two per cent of the total vote cast in any such elections.
   The office-bearers in central and local committees of a party must be elected for a term as specified in its constitution.
   A registered party shall make specific provisions in its constitution for inclusion of at least 33 per cent of office-bearer of its central and other committees at different levels from women.
   A party shall hold its council or meeting for election of its central committee and other committees at different levels as prescribed by its constitution or in every three years.
   A registered party shall submit an annual statement of its accounts for immediate past calendar year on or before July 31 every year.
   No registered political party shall form front organisations with the students of any educational institution, with the teachers of educational institutions which receive financial aid from the government, with the employees of any financial, or commercial or industrial establishment.

The High Court on Tuesday rejected, for non-prosecution, a writ petition that challenged the constitutionality of the interim government led by Fakhruddin Ahmed.
   After being absent in two hearings, the petitioner’s chief counsel Syed Gholam Mostafa told the court on Tuesday that he would not press the petition.
   ‘The petition has been rejected as “not-pressed” keeping a chance open for the petitioner to file a new petition on the same matter correcting some procedural mistakes made in the petition,’ Mostafa told reporters after the court order.
   On May 6, Josneara Chowdhury, wife of Harris Chowdhury, filed the writ petition challenging the authority of the chief adviser and ten other advisers to the caretaker government and the chief election commissioner of holding their respective offices.
   Confusions are rife about the identity of the petitioner as the petition did not detail her identity.
   In the writ petition the petitioner identified herself as ‘Josneara Chowdhury, wife of Md Harris Chowdhury, of village Karmutia, police station Bashail, district Tangail; present address—62, Bijoy Nagar, Paltan, Dhaka’.
   Although she did not give any further details of her identity, filing lawyer of the petition Abdul Halim Mandal claimed that she was the wife of Haris Chowdhury, political secretary to former prime minister Khaleda Zia.
   But, the permanent address of Tagail, as mentioned in the petition, has caused confusion as Harris Chowdhury is a man from Sylhet.
   What puzzles one further is that there is no residential house at 62, Bijoy Nagar, mentioned by the petitioner as her present address. There are some car shops, including ‘Asha Car Vision’, at the address. ‘Asha Car Vision’ reportedly belongs to Harris Chowdhury.
   As the case came up for hearing before the High Court bench of Justice Shah Abu Nayeem Mominur Rahman and Justice Jubayer Rahman Chowdhury, the court asked Mostafa whether he knew the petitioner personally.
   The counsel replied in the negative which prompted the court to reject the petition observing that the petition was not maintainable, as it lacked clear details on the identity and track records of the petitioner.
   As soon as the court made the observation, Mostafa pleaded that the petition might be rejected as ‘not-pressed’ so that ways remained for filing a similar petition on the same matter.
   Earlier, the hearing of the petition was deferred on May 16 and 20 due to absence of counsel Mostafa.

The police on Tuesday recovered six decomposed bodies of a single family from a house at Bhelanagar, only about 200 yards from the Narsingdi district administration office.
   The deceased were identified as Raisuddin, 52, his wife Salma Begum, 45, son Rajib, 25, daughters Una, 28, and Swarna, 18, and domestic help Urmee, 10.
   The locals and police said that Musa Miah, father of Urmee, found the doors of the house locked when he went to see his daughter on Tuesday morning.
   ‘As there was a bad smell and the door was locked, and there was no response to his repeated knocks, Musa Miah told the neighbours that the circumstances were suspicious, and they informed the police,’ they said.
   On receipt of information, the police reached the spot and recovered the rotting bodies by breaking down the door of the house.
   The bodies were sent to Sadar Hospital’s morgue for autopsy.
   Police suspect the victims might have been killed at least a week ago.
   Local sources said Raisuddin of Chinishpur village under Sadar upazila had given a large amount of money, obtained by selling his village property, to a local manpower agent, Kalam, for sending his son abroad. Since then he has been staying in a house called ‘Jubaraj Villa’, owned by an expatriate Bangladeshi living in Italy, for a year.
   The police and locals said that the killers might have been well-known to the family and had frequently visited the house.
   The killers may have taken away the valuables after murdering them in a pre-planned manner.
   Hundreds of people thronged the house to get a glimpse of the bodies after the news sperad.
   The deputy commissioner, Zillur Rahman, and police superintendent, Shahabuddin Khan, visited the spot.
   The administration formed a committee, headed by additional deputy commissioner Kazi Nazir Hossain, and comprising inspector Mahbubur Rahman of the Criminal Investigation Department and officer-in-charge of Narsingdi thana S Alam to investigate the gruesome murders. The police picked up one Kalam for questioning.

The trial of Tarique Rahman’s crony and controversial businessman Giasuddin Al Mamun for not submitting his wealth statement in defiance of a notice issued by the Anti-Corruption Commission began on Tuesday in a special judge’s court.
   Another court, the Special Judge’s Court-3 presided over by Shahed Nooruddin, on Tuesday accepted the supplementary charge sheet filed by the ACC against former state minister Mahiuddin Khan Alamgir. The court set May 27 for the hearing on charge-framing against Mahiuddin for submitting false wealth statement, concealing assets, and for possessing wealth disproportionate to his legitimate income.
   Meanwhile, the Special Judge’s Court-1 chaired by M Firoz Alam and Special Judge’s Court-2 by AK Roy continued hearing testimonies of prosecution witnesses in graft cases against former state minister Amanullah Aman and his wife Sabera Aman and former state minister Mir Nasir Uddin and his son Mir Helal Uddin respectively.
   The trial of Mamun’s case began with recording testimonies of witnesses. Two prosecution witnesses — the plaintiff, ACC deputy director SM Akhter Hamid Bhuiyan, and ACC field officer Khandaker Akheruzzaman, who served the notice issued by the ACC on Mamun — testified on the first day.
   M Asharaf Hossain, judge of the Special Judge’s Court-5, ordered the prosecution to produce the remaining witness, Mamun’s wife Shahina Yasmin, before the court today for recording her testimony.
   As Shahina was absent, special public prosecutor AFM Gholam Fattah prayed to the court to issue a warrant for her arrest.
   Mamun’s counsel Fakhrul Islam, however, told the court that Shahina was sick. She will appear before the court, if summoned, he said, pleading for summoning her.
   The proceedings of all the cases, except that against Mahiuddin, will resume this morning in the courtrooms set up in MP Hostel on the premises of Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban.
   The court framed charges against Mamun on May 14 for not submitting his wealth statement, defying an ACC notice. According to the Anti-Corruption Commission Act, the offence is punishable with imprisonment for three years or with fine or both. Under the Emergency Powers Rules, the offence is punishable with imprisonment for three to five years or with fine or both.
   Nasir, Helal, Aman, and Sabera were also charged with submitting false wealth statements to the ACC and owning wealth disproportionate to their legitimate incomes.

A recent move by some trustees of the Savar-based Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed to place its day-to-day operations beyond the direct control of its founder, British physiotherapist Valerie Taylor, is facing harsh criticism from citizens’ groups and a section of the civil society.
   A citizens’ group under the banner of ‘Citizens’ Committee to Save CRP’ on Tuesday questioned the methods used to relegate Taylor to an advisory role at the centre, and accused certain trustees, including the centre’s acting chairman, of staging ‘a silent coup’.
   ‘We want to warn those members of the board of trustees who are behind this effort to remove Valerie Taylor that they should now resign from the board with dignity before we start considering legal action against them,’ said Mobarak Ali Mollah, a retired bureaucrat who spoke on behalf of the committee at a press conference in Dhaka.
   The allegations were raised a day after eminent cultural and academic figures appealed to the CRP board of trustees to restore Taylor to her position at the centre, which she founded in 1979. Taylor’s name has since become synonymous with the CRP and in 1998 she was awarded Bangladeshi citizenship in recognition of her philanthropic work.
   According to CRP trustee Mushtaq Ahmed, a group of his colleagues in the board of trustees held a secret meeting and unanimously decided to relegate Taylor to a mere ‘advisory’ role.
   At the heart of the controversy are former bureaucrat CM Shafi Sami and Lina Alam, both of whom have been in the CRP’s board of trustees since 2004 and are now being accused of trying to wrest control of the centre from Taylor.
   The 34-member committee accused the board members led by Alam and Sami of ‘trying to make CRP a commercialised profit-seeking business where the poor will no longer get free or subsidised treatment’.
   ‘They have raised treatment fees to such an extent that instead of getting free treatment the people are now having to sell their livestock or land to get treatment at the CRP, which is against the founding philosophy of the centre that Valerie created,’ said committee-member Golam Morshed whose NGO gives jobs to many of the centre’s rehabilitated patients.
   In its statement the committee also accused Sami, a former adviser to the caretaker government, of accepting ‘illegal and secret payments worth £22,000 (Tk 29,92,000) directly to his personal bank account’ from a major CRP donor in the UK called Friends of CRP, which raises funds for the centre in the UK.
   ‘How can a trustee member earn a salary of more than Tk 2.5 lakh per month for coming to the centre occasionally when its founder Valerie draws a monthly salary of only Tk 7,500?’ asked Mollah.
   Sami denied the allegation that the payments were illegal or secret while speaking to New Age on Tuesday, and claimed that this payment was not intended as a salary either.
   ‘This was a fee paid to me for my professional services in bringing the CRP into an institutional framework (sic), for tackling corruption at the centre, for infusing accountability and transparency into its operations, and for making its management process more professional,’ he said.
   ‘It was Valerie Taylor who requested me to join the CRP and bring about these reforms, and everyone in the board of the CRP as well as relevant authorities in the government know that I have earned this money as a fee for consultancy,’ Sami said.
   ‘I will gladly show everyone all the papers that will prove my claim,’ he said, adding that in terms of consultancy fee for the work he did, the amount was paltry.
   The acting chairman of the trustee board, Major General (retd) Dr Muhammad Nurul Haq, also denied any wrongdoing on Sami’s part. ‘The money that Mr Shafi Sami was paid was neither from the CRP nor intended for the CRP, so why should he need to take the approval of the CRP’s board of trustees for accepting this fee?’ asked Haq.
   But at least one board member criticised Sami’s defence while speaking to New Age on Tuesday, saying that his role as a trustee and his role as a consultant posed a conflict of interest.
   ‘First Shafi Sami became the managing trustee of the CRP, then he became the CEO, and now he has also become a consultant for the CRP. How many roles can he occupy at the centre without giving rise to a serious conflict of interest?’ asked Dr Mushtaq Ahmed, a member of the CRP’s trustee board.
   ‘The same is the case with Lina Alam, who is a trustee for the CRP but, as has been revealed, is also on the board of trustees of the UK-based F-CRP, which is one of our major donors — thus posing a conflict of interest,’ he said.
   Ahmed confirmed the allegations that fees to treat patients have been raised at the CRP, raising the cost of treatment beyond the reach of the poorest section of society who have traditionally been the CRP’s biggest beneficiaries.

Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday sued Bangladesh Welding Electrode managing director S Nurul Islam and weekly Industry editor Enayat Karim with charges of making capital gains through price manipulation of company shares.
   Both the accused were subpoenaed to testify before the chief metropolitan magistrate’s court on June 27, an SEC official said.
   The capital market regulator accused Enayat Karim of manipulating share prices of Bd Welding in collaboration with the company’s chief executive S Nurul Islam and its management.
   The commission filed the petition under sections 24 and 25 of the SEC Ordinance 1969 and 109 clause of the Penal Code, said the official.
   Earlier an SEC investigation found evidences that the business magazine editor had a hand in circulating an e-mail claiming that a Saudi Arabian investor would team up with Bd Welding to set up an oxygen plant in Chittagong, a information that influenced the market and pushed the low-profile company’s share prices to record highs. The regulators later found the e-mail fabricated and could not trace the said Saudi business tycoon.
   Share price went several times higher than the face value, resulting in transaction of Tk 17 crore between January and March this year.
   The investigation committee submitted its report to the commission on April 30.
   The price of Bd Welding share recorded a whopping 251.94 per cent rise over a period of one week between February 15 and 22 on the speculation of the arrival of the Saudi business tycoon.
   The share price zoomed to Tk 45.4 on February 22 even though before the rally, the share of the low profile issue was traded much below its face value of Tk 10.
   Meanwhile, the DSE authorities halted the trading of the Bd Welding since April 3.

The Cuban president, Fidel Castro, Monday slammed Britain for building the Astute class of nuclear-powered attack submarines he said is destined to sink whatever is left of Britain’s international prestige.
   (Britain’s Second World War prime minister Winston) ‘Churchill said, ‘Sink the Bismark.’ Today (British prime minister Tony) Blair says: ‘Sink whatever’s left of Britain’s prestige,’ the ailing 80-year old leader said in an editorial published Tuesday by Cuba’s official daily Granma.
   Furthering his criticism of Britain’s staunch support of the US occupation of Iraq and Washington’s ‘imperialistic system,’ Castro said the ‘marvelous submarine would bring about either (the end of Britain) or the holocaust of the human race.’
   ‘What a wonderful feat,’ Castro said, adding that Britons, however, ‘surely cannot feel any pride’ in the new weapon.
   Britain on Monday announced a 295-million-euro (395-million-dollar) contract to build the 7,800-tonne HMS Audacious, fourth in the Astute class of nuclear-powered attack submarines, the largest and most powerful ever built in Britain for the Royal Navy.
   Granma said the four vessels, the first of which is expected to be launched in January 2009, would cost a total of 7.5 billion dollars to build.
   With that money, Castro said, ‘you could train 75,000 doctors and treat 150 million patients,’ or build 3,000 well-equipped clinics.
   Castro handed power to his brother Raul on a temporary basis in July of last year after undergoing intestinal surgery.
   While he has not been seen in public since then, Castro has published in Granma his thoughts on international politics, energy and environmental issues.

The Awami League general secretary, Abdul Jalil, on Tuesday said that his party had no reason to be concerned if a new political party was formed.
   But, he suggested that any new party should work at least for three years before taking part in national elections.
   Talking to reporters at his private office at Motijheel on political reforms the AL leader also said that thorough and broader reforms were needed in parliamentary process and in administration besides the political parties for a meaningful democracy.
   ‘I have no concern if any new political party is formed but it should work with the people for at least three to five years before participating in elections,’ Jalil said.
   For parliamentary reform, he proposed that the speaker of parliament should be chosen by consensus among the political parties before the polls to ensure that he plays a non-partisan role.
   ‘No other candidates will file nomination papers for the constituency from where a consensus person for the office of the speaker will contest’, the AL general secretary proposed.
   He also emphasised strengthening of the parliamentary standing committees to ensure accountability of the activities of the ministries. He said that future governments have to change customary attitudes and ensure accountability of the ministers to the people keeping in mind that they represented the whole nation, not only the party in power.
   ‘If the government fails to change its attitude it will fail to prove its neutrality,’ he said.
   About the much-talked-about reform in political parties, Jalil said that the parties should take firm decision to keep corrupt elements black money holders out of parliamentary elections.
   He said that the government should contribute to party funds to ensure transparency in their income.
   ‘The government should fix an annual donation for political parties in proportion to the percentage of votes they will poll in the parliamentary elections,’ said Jalil suggesting that it could be Taka five for each vote polled.
   He also said that the AL would discuss the reform issues in the party forum after withdrawal of the ban on indoor politics and announce the party’s opinion before the nation and the Election Commission.
   Jalil said that although his party supported most of the proposals made by the Election Commission to bring reforms in the political parties, it would not be possible to accommodate 33 percent female representatives in every committee.
   ‘It will not be possible for us to accommodate 33 percent female representatives in each and every committee as per the Election Commission’s proposal, although the AL supported most of the other proposals,’ said the AL leader.
   Welcoming the government decision to grant autonomy to the state-run Bangladesh Betar and Bangladesh Television, he said that the AL government had taken the initiative in this regard but could not complete it due to lack of time.

Chitttagong city mayor ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury, detained under the Special Powers Act 1974, was granted bail for three months by the High Court on Tuesday.
   Keeping the hearing on its rule on the detention order against Mohiuddin pending, the High Court bench of Justice MA Matin and Justice M Abdul Hye passed the interim order after hearing a petition filed by the mayor’s wife Hasina Mohiuddin seeking his bail on health ground.
   The court also ordered the government to return the ailing mayor’s passport to facilitate his tour abroad for better treatment.
   Pleading for the petitioner, M Amirul Islam argued that Mohiuddin was granted bail for three months by another bench on May 17 on health ground as he was seriously ill and needed to go abroad for better treatment.
   Mohiuddin is yet to be released as he has been detained under the Special Powers Act, the counsel said.
   ‘Although rare, it is not unprecedented for the High Court to grant bail to a person detained under a preventive detention law,’ Amirul argued citing some judgements delivered by the High Courts of Bangladesh, India and Pakistan.
   In Bangladesh, the High Court had granted bail to Jaitya Party leader Kazi Zafar Ahmed, who was then detained under the Special Powers Act, on health grounds, Amirul contended.
   Earlier, on Sunday, a bench of Justice Khademul Islam Chowdhury and Justice M Ashfaqul Islam referred the petition to the chief justice for necessary steps saying that the bench had no jurisdiction to deal with bail petition for a person, detained under the Special Powers Act.
   The chief justice sent the matter to the division bench, headed by Justice MA Matin, for disposal.
   Mayor Mohiuddin, arrested by the army-led joint forces on March 7 on charges of corruption, was rushed to Chittagong Medical College Hospital from Bandarban jail on May 14 following a heart attack.
   Later, he was shifted to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University in the capital as his health condition deteriorated.

A number of multilateral lending agencies and donor countries on Tuesday agreed to provide financial support to the Election Commission’s project for preparing national identity cards and a fresh voters’ roll with photographs.
   Representatives of 23 lending agencies and donor countries made the offer at a meeting with the secretaries of Economic Relations Division and EC secretariat at the National Economic Council conference room, after being assured that all eligible voters of the country would be included in the new list.
   ‘The donors agreed to support the project on assurance from the EC that it will introduce a digital
   voters’ roll to ensure participation of all in elections,’ the British high commissioner in Dhaka, Anwar Choudhury told the media.
   He said the EC informed them that the voters’ registration process would be conducted at the polling stations across the country and they found the EC move a positive one.
   Asked about the timeline
   for holding the next general elections, the British envoy
   said the elections would be held as soon as possible, before the end of 2008, the timeline given by the interim government.
   The lenders and donors asked the EC to submit a demand note to them before June as the financial support would be given based on that.
   The ERD secretary, Aminul Islam Bhuiyan, said the financial support would be unconditional and the EC would spend the money to implement it planned voters’ roll project.
   Representatives of the Asian Development Bank, Japan International Cooperation Agency, and United Nations Development Programme and the ambassador and head of delegation of the European Commission in Dhaka, among others, were present at the meeting.

The secretarial committee’s meeting on administrative affairs on Tuesday approved the proposal for upgrading the top posts in the three military services, official sources confirmed.
   The cabinet secretary, Ali Imam Majumder, presided over the meeting held at the Cabinet Division.
   ‘The meeting has approved a resolution covering a number of issues for administrative development along with the proposal for upgrading the top military ranks,’ a secretary to the government told New Age.
   He said the interim administration had initiated the move to upgrade the top military ranks, which was still in the process.
   The proposal for upgrading the top posts in the three armed services was earlier approved by the president, who is the supreme commander of the armed forces, and is awaiting a gazette notification, said establishment ministry sources.
   According to the proposal the rank of the chief of the Bangladesh Army will be upgraded from lieutenant general to a full general, the chief of the Navy will be made a vice-admiral instead of rear-admiral and the top boss of the Air Force will be an air marshal instead of the present air vice-marshal.
   All principal staff officers of the army, who are now major generals, will rise to the rank of lieutenant generals, the PSOs of Navy will be rear-admirals instead of commodores and, in the case of the Air Force, the PSOs will be of the rank of air vice-marshal instead of air commodore.
   The commandant of the National Defence College will also be of the rank of lieutenant general instead of major general.
   The Ministry of Establishment on May 15 sent the proposal for upgrading the ranks of the military chiefs to the Ministry of Defence after its approval by the president and the chief adviser, said officials.
   The upgrading of the top posts of the armed forces will place the three chiefs above the rank of cabinet secretary and principal secretary.
   According to the present warrant of precedence, the status of chiefs of the three services equals that of the cabinet secretary and the principal secretary.

The government will take legal action against broadcasting and donwlinking of programmes of any television channel other than 12 local and 29 foreign channels approved by the authorities, the information ministry said in a circular Tuesday.
   According to the circular, the government-approved local TV channels are—ATN Bangla, Channel I, ntv, Rtv, Channel 1, Banglavision, Baishakhi, SN Television, Broadcast Islamic World, Desh Television, Diganta Media Corporation Limited (Dtv) and Focus Multimedia Limited.
   The approved foreign television channels are—-BBC world, CNN, Fox News, Sky News, The History Channel, ESPN, Hallmark, Discovery Channel, TNT Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, Animal Planet, National Geographic Channel, Star Sports, HBO, Alpha Bangla, Zee English, Zee News, Zee Sports, Star News, Zee TV, Star Plus, Star Movies, Star World, Sony TV, Zee Cinema, Zee MGH, Zee Movies, MTV and Star Gold.

At least three blasts occurred in quick succession on Tuesday in the northern Indian city of Gorakhpur, a police official said.
   ‘These blasts appeared to have been caused by crude bombs,’ city police spokesman Avinash Mishra said.
   One of the bombs was reportedly concealed on a bicycle, Mishra said.
   The first two explosions were in two different marketplaces while the third was next to a newly built hotel in Gorakhpur, a low-income Indian city on the Nepal border.
   News television networks said three people were slightly injured but there was no official confirmation of the reports.
   The explosions came four days after a powerful bomb in an ancient mosque killed at least nine people in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad.

Economists, energy experts and environmentalists on Tuesday asked the government not to formulate an export-oriented coal policy and not to hand over the country’s coal-fields to foreign companies.
   ‘The government is formulating a coal policy to hand over the ownership of country’s coal-fields to foreign companies. In exchange the country will get only six per cent royalty and it will have to purchase its own coal from the companies with foreign currency,’ said Anu Ahmed, professor of economics of the Dhaka University, at a press conference on ‘Energy Policy: Present Context’.
   He said that Bangladesh should extract its own coal by employing foreign contractors.
   ‘The government says it does not have the capital to set up power plants or develop coal-mines. Has it wanted any capital from the local entrepreneurs through the capital market?’ asked Professor Ahmed at the press conference organised by the Bangladesh Paribesh Andolon.
   He said that the rise of the share prices of power companies has shown that people want to invest in power and energy sectors.
   ‘No one but the bureaucrats, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank want the capital to be raised from the local market as no one will be able to take bribes from the technical assistance projects funded by these international banks,’ he said.
   Professor Ahmed said energy adviser Tapan Chowdhury recently claimed that the country’s coal would be allowed to be exported only after meeting 50 years of local demand.
   ‘The adviser’s comment is encouraging. But what have the people concerned been doing? First they have been planning to ensure coal export in the policy and then meet the country’s 50-year demand. It is an anti-state move to allow coal export,’ he asserted.
   Former PDB chairman Nuruddin Mahmud Kamal made some recommendations to streamline and develop the energy sector of the country.
   He recommended that no export-oriented deal related to coal should be signed, no proposal for open-pit mining method should be approved, and steps should be taken to set up small power plants at all the 70 Palli Bidyut Samities to meet the demand for power on an urgent basis.
   He suggested that the interim government should not go for the third round of bidding for allocation of offshore blocks as the procedure will be too complicated for an interim government that has little time to run the country.
   Nuruddin observed that officials and consultants in the energy and power sector who were involved in ‘corruption’ during the previous government’s tenure are still active in this sector. ‘They are trying to continue their anti-state activities under this government as well.’
   He asked why the controversial projects of Asia Energy and the Tata Group and the coal policy were revived under the interim government. ‘Are the vested interest quarters trying to make this government unpopular to the people?’
   Sheikh Md Shahidullah, convener of the National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Port and Power, Zakir Hossain, member secretary of the committee on national resources, energy and environment programme of the BAPA, and Dr Shamsul Alam of Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology also spoke on the occasion, among others.

The Anti-Corruption Commission is likely to notify 32 more corruption suspects within a day or two, asking them to submit their wealth statements to its Dhaka office, said ACC chairman Hasan Mashhud Chowhury on Tuesday.
   In the first phase of the drive against extremely corrupt bigwigs, the ACC notified fifty corruption suspects on February 18, asking them to appear before it within 72 hours and submit their wealth statements.
   Later, in March, the ACC detected 32 more persons suspected of owning assets disproportionate to their legitimate incomes.
   They are, however, yet to be notified by the ACC.
   ‘We have decided to issue notices this week to the 32 people listed by the ACC in the second phase as the task-forces against serious crime and corruption have found some suspects who are indubitable guilty of corruption,’ Mashhud told reporters at his office.
   The ACC will soon submit three or four charge-sheets to the Special Judge’s Courts before they complete the trials of the pending cases, he said, and expressed the hope
   that the ongoing trials would
   be completed within 10 to 15 days.
   ‘The ACC will not lodge corruption cases against Tarique Rahman right now as another intelligence agency has been inquiring into the allegations against him,’ Mashhud told the newsmen in reply to a question. Tarique topped the second list of corruption suspects.
   The second list of corruption suspects includes former ministers Aminul Huq and Shahjahan Siraj, former state minister Ziaul Haque Zia, BNP’s senior joint secretary-general Tarique Rahman, former commerce adviser Barkatullah Bulu, former lawmakers Abul Hashem (Partex Group chairman) and MAH Selim, Dhaka city ward commissioners Mirza Khokon and Monwar Hossain Dipjol, Khaleda Zia’s brother Shamim Iskandar, her nephew Shahriar Islam Tuhin and secretary-general of the Bangladesh Medical Association and the Doctors’ Association of Bangladesh AZM Zahid Hossain. All of them belong to the BNP.
   The list of suspected Awami Leaguers includes former state ministers Obaidul Kader (joint secretary of the party) and Syed Abul Hossain (SAHCO’s managing director), former lawmakers Sheikh Helaluddin and Habibur Rahman Mollah, Sheikh Hasina’s assistant private secretaries AFM Bahauddin Nasim and Rabiul Muktadir, former general secretary of the Chhatra League Liakat Shiqdar and religious affairs secretary Sheikh M Abdullah.
   Former minister and Jatiya Party’s chairman Anwar Hossain Manju, editor and publisher of Janakantha Atiqullah Khan Masud and owner of Shamakal AK Azad are also in the list.
   The list also includes proprietor of the Uttara Group Giridhari Lal Modi, chairman of the Orion Group Obaidul Karim, president of the employees’ union of DESA Kazi Mosharraf Hossain, chief engineer of the Public Works Department AFM Manjurul Islam, former chief conservator of forest Munshi Anwarul Islam, former member of the National Board of Revenue ATM Sarwar Hossain, former additional inspector-general of police Shahidullah Khan, former member of the Public Service Commission Mahfuzur Rahman and former communications secretary Ismail Zabiullah.

A move by the government to prepare a list of English-medium schools in the capital with the help of the Dhaka City Corporation ward commissioners remains stalled, as most of the commissioners have either gone into hiding or are in prison, sources in the education board have told New Age.
   ‘Letters were sent to the commissioners on March 22, asking them to list the English-medium schools in their respective wards,’ said Professor Ataur Rahman Khan, inspector of schools at the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Dhaka on Sunday. ‘Only 30 or so of 120 commissioners have responded so far.’
   ‘They were asked to send the list to the board as quickly as possible,’ he said.
   ‘The decision to seek help from the ward commissioners was taken at a March 5 coordination meeting of the education ministry, as the ministry wanted to bring these institutions under the government’s supervision,’ Ataur said. ‘The meeting also decided to go for advertisements in the print and in electronic media, explaining why the English-medium schools should be registered.’
   The meeting also decided on the procedures that the schools should follow for registration with the government organisations concerned, an official of the ministry told New Age on Sunday. ‘Chairmen of the eight general education boards have been asked to implement the decisions as early as possible.’
   There are hundreds of kindergartens, including cadet madrassahs, and English-medium schools across the country and some of the schools offer O-Level and A-Level courses under the University of Cambridge and the University of London, but most of them have no registration with the government.
   None of the relevant government organisations knows the actual of schools offering pre-school to A-Level courses.
   The schools, mostly housed in residential areas, have neither a unified curricula nor a uniform teacher recruitment policy.
   Allegations are also there that these schools realise tuition fees from the students at their will.
   The ministry in August 2004 asked unauthorised kindergartens and English-medium schools to get registered under the Registration of Private School (Amendment) Act 1989 and the Non-Government School (English Medium) Registration Regulations 1999. Only 135 schools got registered till February 2007.

Frequent outages have been disrupting production, business and public life in the district towns and rural areas, which are the worst victims of erratic and low-quality electricity supply in hot summer days.
   Reports from districts say electricity supply halts 20 to 30 times a day in some areas and every time for minimum half an hour. People in villages and towns outside the cities live without electricity for six to 16 hours a day and in most areas, electric bulbs light up at midnight when they are in deep sleep.
   The country generates 3200-3500 megawatts of electricity against the demand for 4500MW. Most of it is consumed by the capital and major cities like Chittagong and Rajshahi, while the rest of the country gets a scanty leftover.
   Rural Electrification Board that supplies power in villages across the country gets around 600MW against the demand for 1200MW, whereas Dhaka Electric Supply Authority gets 1300-1400MW for the capital alone against its demand for 1800MW. Rest of the power is supplied by Power Development Board in district towns.
   Uneven distribution of electricity causes more sufferings to consumers in towns and villages than those in cities. Most parts of the capital city suffer power outages for two to four hours a day, while most district towns remain without power for more than eight hours and villages for 12-16 hours a day.
   Electricity failures for several times and hours a day, mainly in the evening when it is needed most, badly hamper hospital services, industrial production and water supply. Cold storages suffer a lot due to frequent outages that cause damage to fresh food items stored inside.
   Normal activities in public life are also affected with students, mainly those who are appearing in Higher Secondary Certificate examinations, being the worst sufferers.
   When supply is restored, voltage remains so low that mills and factories can not operate. Voltage fluctuations cause damage to consumer durables, like audio-video players, televisions, refrigerators and computers. All sorts of business both in rural and urban areas are affected.
   This is how New Age correspondents reported about the state of power supply in towns and villages in Rangamati, Rangpur, Patuakhali, Jessore, Sirajganj, Panchagarh, Cox’s Bazar, Tangail and Moulvibazar districts.
   Cox’s Bazar district experiences load shedding for at least ten times a day and for half an hour to one and half an hour each time.
   Rangpur remains without electricity for more than 16 hours everyday. Generally the users get electricity supply after 11 in the night and it is disrupted before the daybreak.
   People of Patuakhali can not say when electricity will come and when it will go. The district experiences load shedding 20 to 30 times everyday and there is no prior announcement.
   Consumers in Jessore stay without power for minimum 12 hours a day.
   In Sirajganj, urban people experience load-shedding for an hour in four days, while rural users have it for an hour everyday.
   Moulvibazar gets a supply of 15 to 60 per cent of the district’s demand for 55 megawatts a day. Officials at Power Development Board and Palli Bidyut Samity, two agencies responsible for supplying electricity to urban and rural areas respectively, said they had no alternative but to go for load-shedding.
   Ishat, an HSC examinee of Moulvibazar narrated to this correspondent her difficulty to prepare her lessons for the exams due to frequent blackouts.
   Selim Ahmed, a medicine trader of the town, said power failure compelled them to run business in candle light.
   Mirza Jabed Shahriar Beg, a resident of TB Hospital road, has blamed power failure for causing acute water supply crisis.

Bangladesh’s plan to get access to the SEA-ME-WE-3 undersea cable through Myanmar as a backup to its SEA-ME-WE-4 cable link seems bleak because of the lukewarm response of the Myanmar government.
   The Bangladesh government sent a proposal to Myanmar in December last year to connect the country with the SEA-ME-WE-3 cable by laying a fibre-optic cable linking Cox’s Bazar with Paypon, Myanmar’s landing station of the undersea cable.
   ‘We have sent several letters to the Myanmar government since December through our foreign ministry, expressing our interest in joining the cable, but Myanmar did not bother to answer even a single letter,’ said an official of Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board.
   The official said the prospect of joining the undersea cable was ‘very bleak’ because of Myanmar’s negative attitude.
   The 30,000-kilometre-long SEA-ME-WE-3 cable is the world’s longest submarine fibre link that connects 34 countries including Myanmar and countries of the Middle East and Western Europe.
   It currently carries the data and telecom traffic from all member countries at a speed of 40 Gigabit per second.
   The post and telecommunications ministry in November last year requested the foreign ministry to take up the matter with the Myanmar authorities as it felt the urgent need for a back-up line to ensure uninterrupted telecommunication services in case of any disruption in the 22,000-km-long SEA-ME-WE-4 link.
   Bangladesh was connected to the undersea cable on May 21 as part of a 16-party consortium, and Cox’s Bazaar is the landing station of the cable in Bangladesh.
   With just one submarine cable link, the BTTB cannot guarantee non-stop service to internet service providers and telecom companies, compelling them to rely on satellite links as emergency back-ups, an official pointed out.
   ‘A back-up link with the SEA-ME-WE-3 cable will give the local telecommunications industry a seamless overseas connection if existing cable links are snapped accidentally,’ he said.
   The government recently missed the opportunity of
   joining a consortium of 17 international telecom operators to be linked to the 20,000-km-long Asia-America Gateway submarine cable network, in addition to SEA-ME-WE-4 cable link, because of fund shortage.

A two-day conference on Nazrul music began in the city Tuesday to mark the 108th birth anniversary of the national poet, Kazi Nazrul Islam, which falls on May 25.
   The Nazrul Sangeet Shilpi Goshthi has convened the event at the Shaheed Zia Auditorium of National Museum.
   Nazrul researcher Professor Rafiqul Islam inaugurated the conference which includes performance of Nazrul songs, dances, and recitation of Nazrul’s poems. Artistes devoted to Nazrul from across the country are participating in the programme.
   The opening day featured around 25 solo songs, singing in a chorus, poetry recitation by Shafi Kamal, and dances by a troupe led by Moonmoon Ahmed.
   Bipasha Guh Thakurata, Shahin Samad, Yasmin Mushtari, Ferdous Ara, Rahat Ara Giti, Chompa Bonik, Bulbul Mahalanabish, Nashid Kamal, Sanjay Kabiraj, Surupa Dhor, Ferdousi Rahman Chandan, Shahid Kabir Palash, Himanghshu Bishwas of Sylhet, Shahiduzzaman Mamun of Barisal, Sharmin Rajib Chowdhury Tina of Chittagong, Sheikh Ali Ahmed of Khulna, and Nasima Akter Moyna of Rajshahi were among the other performers.
   The organisers will honour Julhasuddin Ahmed and Abdus Sattar for their life-time contribution to Nazrul songs and research on the concluding day of the conference today. Today’s programme begins at 7pm.
   Nazrul Institute and Nazrul Academy will also organise programmes.

Dhaka considers the reports run by a section of Indian media alleging complicity of some Bangladeshis in Friday’s bomb blast in a Hyderabad mosque are but speculative and unsubstantiated.
   ‘The accusation is purely speculative and unsubstantiated. Making such accusation without adequate proof is extremely inexpedient to the spirit of good neighbourliness,’ said the foreign adviser, Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, on Tuesday.
   He made the remarks when his attention was drawn to some news items published by certain Indian media outlets accusing unidentified Bangladeshis of complicity in the Hyderabad mosque bombing.
   Iftekhar said, ‘Bangladesh condemns all terrorist activities and maintains that terrorists have no nationality whatsoever.’
   A powerful bomb went off during the Jumma prayers last Friday in the Mecca Masjid of Hyderabad. Fourteen people were killed in the blast and police firing on demonstrators against the bombing.

New Age special correspondent Khawaza Main Uddin has won the Asia-Pacific Millennium Development Goals Media Award for a report on the progress that Bangladesh has made in achieving the UN targets.
   He was adjudged the runner-up award-winner under the print media category for the report headlined ‘Slow and unsteady on MDG path’ run by New Age on April 14 last. The story presented an overview of Bangladesh’s MDG achievements, weaving in tales of everyday struggles of the masses.
   The awards under three categories — print, radio, and television —were announced Tuesday in Almaty, Kazakhstan at the annual session of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific attended by representatives of the 62 member countries.
   Chin Mui Yoon of Star Magazine, Malaysia, won the top award under print media category, He Fei, Wu Jia, Guan Juanjuan, and Jin Zhao of China Radio International under radio category, and Li Jiejun of China Central TV International for best TV report. They received the awards from Kim Hak-Su, under-secretary-general of the UN and executive secretary of the UNESCAP. The best award includes a cash prize of $7,000.
   Rupa Jha of BBC World Service Trust, India became the runner-up under radio category and Horacio Severino and Ella Marie C Evangelista of GMA News & Public Affairs of the Philippines were the runners-up under the TV category. The runner-up award includes a cash prize of $2,000.
   Main Uddin, a master in international relations from Dhaka University, has been in the journalism profession for more than 12 years. He also received the World Food Programme award on food security for the best print media report last year.
   The report for which he has won the UNESCAP award stresses that addressing child malnutrition, maternal mortality, and dropout from schools still remain a challenge for the country despite some progress made in the social sector.
   In citation of the story, the UNESCAP said, ‘The article reviews Bangladesh’s performance in implementing the MDGs, saying that the MDGs will be difficult to meet if the country does not implement the necessary reforms, despite economic progress. It looks at the plight of Zohra Bewa who has been struggling to earn a living and educating her two children by doing dirt-filling jobs.’
   The awards are jointly sponsored by the UNESCAP, UN Development Programme and Asian Development Bank to encourage media reports which put a human face to the MDGs. The competition, organised by the Asia-Pacific Institute for Broad-casting Development and judged by an international panel of media professionals, attracted over 100 entries from 23 countries.

Outgoing US ambassador Patricia A Butenis attended a farewell dinner hosted by former state minister for home affairs Lutfozzaman Babar Tuesday evening.
   A number of BNP leaders, including former ministers M Saifur Rahman and MK Anwar, senior leaders Khandakar Mahbubuddin Ahmed and Quamrul Islam, ex-chairman of Privatisation Commission Inam Ahmed Chowdhury, former MPs Sardar Sakhawat Hossain Bakul, Jahir Uddin Swapan and Nazir Hossain and Jamaat-e-Islami senior assistant secretary general Muhammad Quamaruzzaman also attended the dinner party at Hotel Lake Shore at Gulshan in the city.

The High Court on Tuesday stayed the proceedings of the arms case against former communications minister Nazmul Huda for three months.
   The High Court bench of Justice Khademul Islam Chowdhury and Justice Ashfaqul Islam also issued a rule on the government to explain why the case would not be quashed.
   The court passed the order after hearing a petition filed
   by Nazmul for quashing the case.
   The army-led joint forces arrested him on February 3 at his Dhanmondi house. The joint forces on February 5 seized 14 revolver bullets from his Peelkhana office and filed the case with the Dhanmondi police on March 8 under the arms act accusing the BNP leader of possessing illegal ammunition.
   Rafique-ul Huq moved the petition for Nazmul Huda.