HC suspends Somoy TV transmission for seven days

 
The High Court (HC) has ordered the suspension of the transmission of private television channel Somoy TV for seven days.

The High Court bench comprising Justice Naima Haider and Justice Sashanka Shekhar Sarkar, issued the order on Monday.

On 14 August 2024 a writ petition was filed with a court challenging the legality of the removal of Ahmed Zubair from the position of Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Somoy TV. Senior lawyer Ahsanul Karim represented City Group in court, while another veteran lawyer AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon advocated for Ahmed Zubair.

"The writ petition was filed concealing information about another case with a separate court. When we brought the matter to the justice's notice, the court said it was unaware of it," Barrister Mahbub Uddin Khokon said yesterday. Khokon said there is an appeal in the company court on the same issue. The court rejected City Group's request to halt the channel's broadcast and fixed August 22 for a hearing. "They concealed this information and moved to another court," he said.
 
He said City Group once used to provide money to Awami League. They fear their factories may be vandalized as the party is no longer in power. That's why they want to shut down this channel. This is illogical. "Why should the television channel be closed?" he asked.
 
Barrister Khokon said they will appeal on Tuesday if they get the judgment document by Monday. "We hope the broadcast will not stop until this is resolved," he said.
 
Justice Sheikh Hassan Arif and Justice Md Bazlur Rahman's bench heard the petition and fixed August 22 for the next hearing.
 
On August 10, a press release announced the removal of Ahmed Zubair from his position at Somoy Television. The decision was made at a board meeting of Somoy Media Limited in his absence.
 
The private satellite channel's license is registered on Ahmed Zubair's name.