What happened in Appellate Division, Attorney General explains

Attorney General Barrister Md Ruhul Quddus Kajol has explained to journalists why Chief Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury along with four justices of the Appellate Division left the bench at one stage of the statement of Supreme Court Bar Association President Barrister AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon. The incident took place in the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court around 12:30pm on Tuesday afternoon.

Regarding the case that triggered the incident, the Attorney General said the matter originated over the appointment of a kazi in 2013. In that incident, the plaintiff of the case filed five writs challenging the same order. However, the order of dismissal of the previous writ was not mentioned in the subsequent writ. For this reason, the Appellate Division imposed a fine of Tk 5 lakh on a woman lawyer of the writ and Tk 5 lakh on the writ petitioner on Tuesday morning. The fine money was directed to be deposited to Dhaka Shishu Hospital on behalf of the Supreme Court.

Ruhul Quddus Kajol said senior lawyer AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon was involved in that case. The woman lawyer was sitting beside him and listening to the order when it was pronounced in the morning. However, Mahbub Uddin Khokon was not present in the court at that time.

The Attorney General said the order in the case was passed around 9:15am. Later, around 12:35pm during the hearing of another case, Mahbub Uddin Khokon brought the matter of imposition of fine in that case to the notice of the court. He said, “You have fined a lawyer.”

In response, the Chief Justice said the court had passed the order after reviewing everything and that order would not be changed. According to the court, “serious fraud” or grave deception had been committed in the case. The court also believed that the previous order of the Appellate Division had been concealed.

According to the Attorney General, at this time the Chief Justice asked Mahbub Uddin Khokon not to speak further on this matter. Then Khokon remarked, “After you became the Chief Justice, the income of lawyers has decreased.”

Ruhul Quddus Kajol said the Chief Justice initially took the matter somewhat lightly. Later he asked Mahbub Uddin Khokon whether he really meant that. When Khokon tried to repeat the same statement, the Chief Justice said his statement was “absolutely tantamount to contempt of court.” After that the Chief Justice said that after saying such a big thing, he would not take part in the court’s proceedings for the rest of the day.

Saying this, the Chief Justice left the bench, the Attorney General said. Later three other justices of the Appellate Division also left the bench with him.

Regarding the incident, the Attorney General said the Chief Justice is the guardian of the lawyers in the Supreme Court of Bangladesh. Misunderstandings may sometimes arise between lawyers and justices in the court. Justices sometimes also scold lawyers. However, these matters should remain limited within the court’s proceedings.

He said this sense of responsibility should be present among all while discharging duties towards the state, society and people.