The Supreme Court on Thursday asked two Supreme Court lawyers not to appear in any of its two divisions for four weeks for writing a letter with "some derogatory statements" to the chief justice.
The lawyers are Mohammad Moshin Rashid and Shah Ahmed Badal.
A four-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Obaidul Hassan passed the order.
They will not be allowed to conduct any cases in the Appellate and High Court Divisions for the next four weeks.
The Supreme Court also ordered them to give written explanations of their roles regarding the letter within this time.
They were asked to appear before the court on February 8.
During the hearing, the Supreme Court said if the explanation of the two lawyers is not satisfactory, there will be a tougher punishment for them.
Earlier on January 3, the Appellate Division in a suo moto ruling asked the two pro-BNP lawyers, Mohsin and Badal, to explain their conduct over a letter issued by them on January 1 to the chief justice seeking adjournment of court hearings.
Following the order, they appeared before the bench in the morning.
Senior lawyer AJ Mohammad Ali sought time on behalf of Mohsin and Badal from the court to give an explanation.
The Appellate Division observed that the statement of the letter tarnished the judiciary’s image which constituted contempt of the court.
Mohsin and Badal submitted the letter to the SC registrar general's office on January 1 for forwarding to the chief justice.
The letter was placed before the chief justice on January 2.