The permission for taking BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia to abroad for treatment will have to come from the court, not from the home ministry, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said today.
The minister's statement comes after Law Minister Anisul Huq said yesterday that an application must be submitted to the home ministry to allow Khaleda to go abroad for better treatment.
"It is not a matter of the permission from the home ministry. As it's a matter of court's jurisdiction, the home ministry has nothing to do without the court's permission," he said while talking to reporters at the Secretariat.
"Khaleda Zia is a convict in a case and the prime minister, after suspending the conviction, allowed her to receive treatment from the best doctors at home," the home boss said.
"BNP normally seeks permission from home ministry which is later forwarded to the law ministry for legal explanation. If 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 abroad for treatment, Asaduzzaman said they are yet to receive 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.
"They [BNP] do it every time. We approve [regarding extension of suspension of conviction] what is in our jurisdiction. They will have to go to the court if they want to do more," he said.
