The High Court on Monday asked the information and broadcasting ministry’ secretary and chairmen of Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission and Bangladesh Satellite Company Limited to stop broadcasting of Somoy Television channel for seven days.
The bench of Justice Naima Haider and Justice Seshanko Sekhar Sarkar issued the directive after hearing a writ petition filed by Somoy TV managing director and promoter of City Group Shampa Rahman.
The court also asked the secretary and the chairmen of BTRC and Bangladesh Satellite Company to explain why managing director Shampa Rahman to broadcast and transmit news impartially and fairly through Somoy TV without creating any threat.
Awami League lawmaker Md Qamrul Islam and his brother and film director Morshedul Islam was initial directors of Somoy TV which got license from the Awami League’s government in 2009.
Shampa’ lawyer Ahsanul Karim told the court that Somoy TV director Ahmed Jobaer with nexus of his nephew and Awami League former food minister Md Qamrul Islam has been keeping his client off the function of TV to satisfy the government of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
Ahsan said that Shampa, who huge investment of 75 percent shares in the Somoy TV, wanted to restore image of the news channel. Â
He argued that as a result of inaction of the government, BTRC and Bangladesh Satellite Company in not to stop the broadcasting, the channel is posting great threat of vandalism and at the same time, being a close alliance of Hasina government, is thriving to reinstall agenda of AL government which is bound to incur huge repercussion in this prevailing situation.
‘News channel must be stopped for a week at least to cool down the resentments inside and outside the channel,’ Ahsan argued.
