Dhaka, Sept 9 – Law Minister Anisul Huq has claimed that BNP pleaders do not understand laws. The law minister made the comment while reporters asked him about the BNP’s allegations that the government could not issue a gazette notification relating to shifting the court in jail without consulting with the Supreme Court.“They do not know the legal system. BNP lawyers don’t understand laws,” the law minister said while replying to a query from journalists when he was leaving SC premises after meeting the Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain.
In response to another query over the written allegations submitted by the BNP lawyers to the chief justice relating to the treatment of BNP chief and shifting of the makeshift court in jail, the law minister said that he did not know about the matter.
“I am not aware of the matter. I will inform you after getting information over the matter,” Huq said.
The law minister also said that it was his welcome meeting with the chief justice.
Earlier in the noon, after meeting with the chief justice pro-BNP lawyers yesterday submitted an application to the office of the chief justice requesting him to hold “inquiries into the misuse of judicial powers” regarding shifting of the court to continue the trial of Zia Charitable Trust case against BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia.
In the application, they also urged Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain to take appropriate actions against the judicial officers who are “encroaching their legal boundaries at the instance of the government”.
President of the Supreme Court Bar Association Advocate Zainul Abedin and its Secretary Barrister AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon signed the application.
Pro-BNP lawyers Advocate Khandker Mahbub Hossain, Barrister Jamiruddin Sircar, Advocate AJ Mohammad Ali, Zainul Abedin, AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon, Advocate Mir Mohammad Nasir Uddin and Barrister Bodruddoza Badal met the chief justice at his Supreme Court office and placed the application before him.
After the meeting, Advocate Zainul Abedin told reporters that Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain assured them of looking into the matter within his legal and administrative jurisdiction.
In the application, Advocate Zainul and Barrister Mahbub said shifting the court for holding the trial of Zia Orphanage Trust case against Khaleda Zia has offended the right to have a fair trial of Khaleda Zia as has been guaranteed under Article 35(3) of the Constitution in as much as this will cause prejudice to her right to have a public trial.
Khaleda Zia is now seriously ill and she is unable to walk, and in this situation, she needs a medical treatment first than trial and the government itself is claiming that she is ill, they said.
In spite of this, the court does not take an appropriate step for her treatment by any doctor of her choice, they said in the application.
In the application, the lawyers also said the constitution as well as the statutory scheme does not and cannot allow any government, legal or illegal, to set up any court or to continue any trial in an abandoned jail.
In response to such petitions, Law Minister Anisul Huq has strongly criticised the BNP and said “they do not know the legal system”. – Staff Reporter
