The High Court today (23 September) suspended the decision to halt the broadcasting of the country’s first news-based television channel CSB News.
The High Court bench of Justice Kamrul Hossain Mollah and Justice Kazi Zinat Hoque, issued the order in response to a petition filed by Fayyaz Quader Chowdhury, son of late BNP leader Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury.
According to lawyers, there is no legal bar for the channel to continue its operations following the High Court order.
Barrister AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon represented the petition in court.
CSB News, Bangladesh’s first 24-hour news channel, is a subsidiary of Focus Multimedia Company. The channel launched its pilot broadcast on 24 March 2007, and officially commenced commercial operations on 9 April of the same year.
However, on 6 September 2007, the Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (BTRC) stopped the broadcasting of CSB News, citing allegations that it aired talk shows and news critical of the then government.
