There is no bar on seeking the disclosure of the immigration status of Bangabandhu murder convict Noor Chowdhury as a Canadian court accepted Bangladesh’s plea over the matter, says Law Minister Anisul Huq.

Canada Federal Court Judge Justice O'Reilly said in his verdict on Tuesday (Sept 17), “I must, therefore, allow this application for judicial review and remit the decision back to the Minister for redetermination, with costs,”

Responding to queries on the matter, Anisul Huq told Bangla Tribune, that Bangladesh will now request the Canadian government to disclose Chowdhury’s status.

“The Court has accepted our petition and now we will ask the Canadian Minister for Immigration to reveal his identity,” he said and added that request would be made “as soon as possible.”

In 1996, Noor Chowdhury and his wife, both Bangladeshi citizens, were granted visitor status in Canada. They applied for refugee protection after reaching the country.

In the meantime, Chowdhury was tried and convicted in 1998 in absentia as a co-conspirator in the 1975 coup that resulted in the death of President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family, said the verdict.

“President Rahman is considered by many to be the Father of the Bangladeshi nation,” the copy of the verdict read.

In 2002, Chowdhury and his wife were excluded from refugee protection after having committed a serious non-political crime. In 2006, the two of them were found to be inadmissible in Canada for serious criminal offences.

When Awami League came to power in 2009, Chowdhury requested a pre-removal risk assessment (PRRA) with the Canadian attorney general’s office.

Since 2010, Bangladesh has been in talks with Canadian officials about his status in Canada and has expressed concerns about the delay relating to his PRRA application, the verdict said.

In 2018, the high commissioner of Bangladesh wrote to Canada’s minister of immigration, refugees and citizenship requesting that he invoke his powers to disclose, in the public interest, information about the status of Chowdhury’s PRRA application and his immigration status.

The Canadian minister refused the high commissioner’s request saying that there was no information-sharing agreement between the two countries.

The Bangladesh envoy then sought to achieve a limited information-sharing agreement with Canada, but the minister refused, the verdict said.

According to the verdict Bangladesh now seeks judicial review of the minister’s decision to refuse the disclosure of Chowdhury’s PRPA status.

The Judge said, “In my view, Bangladesh’s application for judicial review should be allowed because the minister failed to give serious consideration to the public interest that would be served if the information sought were disclosed.”

The court considered four issues while handing out its verdict: ‘Is the application for judicial review premature?’; ‘Should portions of the affidavits filed by Bangladesh be struck?’; ‘Is this matter justiciable?’ and ‘Was the Minister’s decision unreasonable?’

In all the aforementioned issues the courts disagreed with the arguments of the Minister and Noor Chowdhury.