SC upholds HC’s stay order on trial against Prothom Alo editor over Abrar murder 

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a High Court order that stayed the trial proceedings of a case filed against Prothom Alo Editor Matiur Rahman over the death of Dhaka Residential Model College student Naimul Abrar Rahat.

Chamber Judge of the Appellate Division Justice Hasan Foez Siddique passed "no order" on a petition filed by the state, seeking stay on the HC's stay order.

The judge also dropped the petition from the cause list, said Prothom Alo's lawyer Mostafizur Rahman Khan. 

On December 13, the HC stayed for six months the trial proceedings of the case filed against the Prothom Alo editor over the death of Abrar.

Later, the petition was filed on December 21 seeking stay on the court order. 

On 1 November last year, ninth-grader Rahat, a student of Dhaka Residential Model College died of electrocution during an anniversary programme of Kishor Alo, a supplement of the Prothom Alo for young readers, on the school premises.

The 14-year-old boy was taken to the Universal Medical College and Hospital in Mohakhali, 45 minutes after the incident occurred, although the Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital was on the opposite side of the venue.

Five days after the death of the ninth-grader Abrar, his father Mujibur Rahman on November 6, 2019, filed the case with the court accusing Prothom Alo editor Matiur Rahman, also the publisher of Kishor Alo, and some others.

On the same day, the court ordered to exhume Abrar's body for autopsy.

Simultaneously, the court ordered the merger of the new case with the case of unnatural death in the incident, and directed the officer-in-charge of Mohammadpur Police Station to submit a report after investigation.