July 21, 2008	Monday	Rajab 17, 1429

DHAKA, July 20: Bangladesh’s High Court on Sunday ordered the country’s army-backed government to justify the legality of its ongoing state of emergency, lawyers said.

The ruling came after four lawyers appealed to the court that the state of emergency, imposed by the government in January 2007 when it came to power after cancelling elections, was illegal.

“The High Court has asked the government to explain in four weeks why the proclamation of the emergency would not be declared illegal,” said deputy attorney-general Naima Haider, who appeared on behalf of the government.

“It wanted to know whether the president, who imposed the emergency, acted on the mandate of the constitution,” she said.

The court also ordered the government to give details about how it plans to hold general elections at the end of the year and transfer power back to a democratically elected government, said lawyer M.I Farooqi, acting on behalf of the petitioners.

The ruling comes less than a week after the country’s attorney-general stepped down, saying he was no longer able to work with “dignity and integrity” under the current regime.—AFP