Shawdesh Desk:

The High Court Division on Tuesday scolded the police and other law enforcement agencies for holding press conference by presenting arrested people before the media during pendency of investigations.

A bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Md Mostafizur Rahman reprimanded the law enforcement agencies while hearing bail application of Ayesha Siddiqua Minni who was falsely implicated in the  case of her husband Rifat Sharif’s murder at Barguna on June 26.

The bench directed the government and the police to explain in one week why Minni would not be granted bail and asked the investigation officer of the murder case to appear before it with the case docket at the next hearing on August 28.

The bench also directed Barguna superintendent of police Md Maruf Hosain to appear before it at the next hearing to explain under what authority he had called the press conference to allege that Minni had involved in her husband’s murder during pendency of investigation.

The court scolded the SP saying, ‘If she confesses to the SP, how he made it in public during pendency of the investigation.’

Doesn’t it mean that it will be duty of the investigation officer to prove that what the SP had said at the press conference was correct,’ said the court.

The court said that not only in Minni’s case, it became a common practice of the higher police officers to make statements to the media during pendency of investigations and the investigation officers completing their investigations in line with the higher officers’ comments.

The court also reminded the police that it had earlier ordered them not to produce before the media arrested persons in vests with the inscriptions, ‘criminals’ or ‘rapists’.

Appearing for Minni, Supreme Court Bar Association’s president AM Amin Uddin submitted that Minni should be granted bail as she was mentally and physically tortured by the  SP on the plea of interrogating her at the Barguna Police Line before was interrogated again in police custody for five days to force her to make the so called confessional statement against herself.

Minni’s bail was vehemently opposed by deputy attorney general Sarowar Hossain Bappi.