Taking Khaleda abroad falls under jurisdiction of law: Home Minister

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal has said that the permission for taking BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia abroad for treatment will have to come from the court, not from the home ministry.

“It is not an issue of permission from the Home Ministry. Rather, it is an issue under the jurisdiction of court. The Home Ministry has nothing to do without the court’s permission,” he said while talking to reporters at the Secretariat on Sunday.

“However, the Law Minister knows it very well. Our ministry cannot do anything else beyond the jurisdiction of law,” he added.

The home minister made the remarks after Law Minister Anisul Huq said on Saturday that an application must be submitted to the home ministry seeking permission to take Khaleda Zia abroad for better treatment.

“You know that Khaleda Zia is a convict in a case and the prime minister suspended her conviction taking her condition into account. She allowed her (Khaleda) to receive treatment from the best physicians in Bangladesh,” he said.

“BNP normally seeks permission from Home Ministry which is later forwarded to the Law Ministry for legal opinion. If the Law Ministry thinks it is a matter of the court’s jurisdiction, they will send it to the court,” he said. “I think there is a legal complexity and a permission from court might be needed.”

“Our ministry can’t do anything going beyond the law,” he said.

Asked whether BNP has written to the home ministry about taking Khaleda Zia abroad for treatment, Asaduzzaman said they have not yet received any such letter.

Reporters then asked the minister about BNP’s claim that whenever they write letters to the Home Ministry, they seek permission to take Khaleda abroad for treatment.

“BNP makes such applications every time. We extend the suspension of conviction which is in our jurisdiction. They (BNP) will have to go to the court if they want to do more,” he said.