Why not ethical conduct for media, HC asks
The HC bench of Justice Md Mozibur Rahman Miah and Justice Md Kamrul Hossain Mollah issued the rule on Monday after the hearing of a writ petition.
The High Court (HC) has issued a rule asking why it should not order the concerned authorities to formulate ethical guidelines for Bangladesh media.
The HC bench of Justice Md Mozibur Rahman Miah and Justice Md Kamrul Hossain Mollah issued the rule on Monday after the hearing of a writ petition.
Secretary to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, chairman to the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), and chairman to the Bangladesh Press Council, have been asked to respond to the rule within four weeks.
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On 5 May, two Supreme Court lawyers, petitioners of the public litigation, sent a legal notice to the defendants seeking "ethical conduct" on the part of the local press.
The notice said, "After the body of a 21-year-old girl was recovered in the capital recently, a case was filed under Section 306 of the Penal Code for abetting of the suicide. The incident was covered unacceptably by the local media, especially by online news portals. But, neither the BTRC nor the Press Council took any initiative to stop such news coverage."
"Against such a backdrop, formulating ethical guidelines for local media has become urgent. At the same time, the registration of online news portals has also become urgent since the BTRC has taken no action against unregistered news sites," it added.
Failing to receive a response to their legal notice, the lawyers moved to the HC to file the writ.
Barrister Jarin Rahman and Advocate Rashida Chowdhury Neelu appeared for the writ, and Deputy Attorney General Nowroz Md Russell Chowdhury stood for the state.
