CJ says he upheld constitution, SCBA demands his resignation
Four new additional High Court judges on Thursday took their oaths of office amid protests from lawyers backed by Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami.
The Supreme Court Bar Association dominated by the BNP- and Jamaat-backed lawyers, demanded resignation of the chief justice for administering oath of office to Justice Ruhul Quddus and Justice M Khasruzzaman.
They also decided to boycott the courts of the two judges, while lawyers backed by the ruling Awami League-led alliance welcomed the judges.
The two judges were appointed on April 11 along with 15 other additional High Court judges. The then chief justice, Mohammad Fazlul Karim, on April 18 administered the oaths of office to 15 additional High Court judges dropping the two in the face of protests from pro-BNP-Jamaat lawyers.
None of the five Appellate Division judges, including Justice Khairul Haque (now chief justice), had attended the oath taking ceremony apparently boycotting the programme in protest against the unilateral decision of the chief justice on the issue.
The chief justice, ABM Khairul Haque, however, said he had administered the oath to them to uphold the constitution and termed the protests ‘unwarranted’.
The chief justice has no alternative to administering the oath of office to a judge appointed by the president in consultation with the chief justice, he explained.
Besides Justice Ruhul Quddus and Justice Khasruzzaman, the chief justice on Thursday, also administered oaths of office to Justice Farid Ahmed and Justice Nazrul Islam Talukder. The president, Zillur Rahman, on November 1, appointed them additional High Court judges for two years.
The bar association has been protesting at the appointments of Justice Ruhul Quddus and Justice Khasruzzaman terming them ‘controversial.’
The bar association objected to the appointment of Justice Ruhul Quddus as he was a principal accused in a case for killing an Islami Chhatra Shibir activist Aslam at Rajshahi University on November 17, 1988. The incumbent government recently withdrew the case against him. As for Khasruzzaman, the association said he was involved in the vandalism that took place on the Supreme Court premises on November 30, 2006.
The chief justice on Wednesday decided to administer oaths of office to the four and issued letter asking them to take oath.
About 100 pro-BNP-Jamaat lawyers, led by SCBA president Khandker Mahbub Hossain and Jatiyatabadi Ainjibi Forum president Rafiqul Islam Miah, staged protest in front of the judges’ lounge chanting slogans.
The lawyers backed by Awami League and its allies, who are minority in the SCBA executive committee, were chanting slogans in favour of the oath.
The swearing-in ceremony, which was scheduled for 10:30am, was delayed by about half-an-hour as the chief justice, two Appellate Division judges, and some High Court judges could not enter the judges’ lounge due to protesters’ sit-in at the entrance.
The chief justice, along with his two colleagues, Appellate Division judges, Justice Md Mojammel Hossain and Justice SK Sinha, and some High Court judges, entered the lounge at about 11:00 am after riot police had dispersed the protesters and cleared the way.
The bar association, at an impromptu briefing, demanded resignation of the chief justice. The association also hoisted black flag and decided to boycott the benches of Justice Ruhul Quddus and Justice Khasruzzaman.
SCBA president Khandker Mahbub Hossain and secretary M Bodruddoza led a procession to the courtrooms of Justice Ruhul Quddus and Justice Khasruzzaman and requested Justice Abdul Wahab Mia and Justice Nazmun Ara Sultana, the senior judges of the benches, not to sit along with the new judges.
The two benches, however, began their judicial functions at about 2:45pm amid protests outside the courtrooms.
After administering the oaths, Justice Khairul Haque told reporters that he had discharged his duties as the chief justice could do nothing but administer oaths of office to the judges appointed by the president in consultation with the chief justice.
‘I heard the statements of senior lawyers and the SCBA leaders over the issue. Some of them spoke for upholding the constitution by administering oath to the two while others wanted me not to administer oaths to them considering my popularity,’ he added.
Had the two judges not been administered the oath, it could have set a ‘bad precedent’ and paved the way for any future chief justice to refuse to administer oath to judges appointed by the president, he pointed out.
Attorney general Mahbubey Alam, at a briefing at his office, hailed Justice Khairul Haque’s decision saying that his predecessor had violated the constitution by not administering oath to Justice Ruhul Quddus and Justice Khasruzzaman who had already been acquitted of the charges brought against them.
He also said that the government could take legal action against the protesters identifying them from video footages as the High Court, in a verdict, had banned any kind of demonstrations on the court premises.
