A fugitive accused cannot appeal over a passport without first surrendering, senior Supreme Court lawyer Mohammad Shishir Manir has said. He told journalists at a briefing in front of the Annex Building on Tuesday (November 10) afternoon. Shishir Manir said the Indian government has given Sheikh Hasina conditional shelter on humanitarian grounds and because she faces threats in Bangladesh. So unless the Indian government changes its decision, there is no prospect of Sheikh Hasina being sent back.
The senior Supreme Court lawyer said former prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s passport was cancelled on January 7 last year. When someone’s passport is cancelled, the law requires an appeal to be filed. Once a passport has been cancelled, no application can be made to have a passport issued again. The only option is to file an appeal.
No appeal was filed over Sheikh Hasina’s passport accordingly. The next point is that appealing over the passport is a legal step. A fugitive accused cannot make any application under the law. To apply under the law, a person must first surrender to the law.
Meanwhile, at a briefing on current issues at his office, International Crimes Tribunal Chief Prosecutor Aminul Islam said Sheikh Hasina has been convicted of crimes against humanity. Under the passport law, therefore, there is no scope to issue a passport to a convicted person.
The chief prosecutor also said there is doubt over whether Sheikh Hasina is in India at all, because she has not been seen in any of the statements she has made from there, and it is not clear whether it is really her in the virtual statements.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report