Attorney General Mahbubey Alam yesterday urged all not to make any comment on the chief justice and the judiciary that could hamper the trial of the war criminals.
In response to questions from reporters, Mahbubey at his office said that such comments were unconstitutional and might affect the judiciary. He also requested all to wait for tomorrow’s verdict on condemned war criminal Mir Quasem Ali’s appeal.
Meanwhile, BNP-Jamaat-dominated Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) yesterday urged the apex court to take legal action against two ministers for their comments about Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha.
Food Minister Qamrul Islam on Saturday said that Jamaat leader Mir Quasem’s appeal case should be reheard by a new Appellate Division bench excluding the chief justice.
During hearing in the case, Justice Sinha criticised the prosecution team and the investigators of the International Crimes Tribunal for their inefficiency and negligence in dealing with the case as they had failed to prove four charges against Quasem. He also criticised the government for not filing a case against Quasem for appointing lobbyists against the war crimes trial process.
Qamrul thinks the chief justice’s remarks raised questions about his intention. He was the state minister for law when the tribunal was formed in 2010.
At the same event, Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque made similar observations. He demanded that the chief justice resign. Other speakers who attended the discussion organised by Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee also criticised the chief justice.
Earlier at a programme in January, Chief Justice SK Sinha alleged that the executive part of the state was out to snatch the power of the judiciary. On February 29, he urged the politicians to refrain from making derogatory comments about the judiciary saying that it was a part of the state, not the government.
Mahbubey yesterday said that the two ministers’ comments were unexpected and unconstitutional.
Many untrue stories were spread about the chief justice before the Appellate Division’s verdict in the case of war criminal Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury, that he might favour the war criminal. “But Salahuddin was sentenced to death,” the attorney general said.
“So, please wait and have faith on the judiciary. Because, the judiciary is the principal organ of the sate. It is better not to make it controversial,” he said.
Meanwhile, SCBA President Khandker Mahbub Hossain at a press conference yesterday said that the ministers’ comments about the chief justice and on a sub-judice matter was a threat to the judiciary.
“The Supreme Court should take legal action against them in order to uphold the image of the judiciary. The Appellate Division can initiate contempt of court proceedings against the two ministers if it wants,” said Mahbub, who is the chief counsel of the condemned war criminals.
