SC upholds HC stay on transfer of case against army man to military court

The Supreme Court yesterday upheld a High Court order that had stayed a move to transfer the case filed against an army officer allegedly for torturing his wife to military court from a special tribunal.

 The case was filed with Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal of Tangail on April 2 stating that Maj Nazir Uddin tortured his wife Nusrat Jahan Tushti, also a student of Dhaka University, for dowry on March 30.

The SC yesterday came up with the order after dismissing an appeal filed by the government challenging the HC order.

The apex court also asked the HC to dispose of the writ petition as soon as possible.

The HC will decide whether the Tangail court or the military court will deal with case against Nasir, the writ petitioner's lawyer Aneek R Haque told The Daily Star.

He said Area Commander (Logistics) of Army Headquarter Maj Gen Mizanur Rahman Khan on May 11 sent a letter to the judge of Tangail court, stating that the case against Nazir should be tried in the court martial since the accused is an army officer. Following a writ petition filed by Tushti's father Nurul Islam Bhuiyan, the HC on August 12 stayed the effectiveness of the letter and the trial proceedings of the case against Nazir.

The HC also issued a rule asking the authorities concerned to explain why the letter sent by Maj Gen Khan should not be declared illegal, he said.

The government later filed an appeal with the SC challenging the HC order.