The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), dominated by BNP-Jamaat lawyers, on Monday condemned the inaction of the Chief Justice of Bangladesh over the Sunday’s attack on lawyers loyal to the 18-party opposition alliance. Addressing a press conference, SCBA president AJ Mohammad Ali, also adviser to the BNP chairperson, demanded constitution of a judicial inquiry committee to probe the ‘barbaric’ attack on lawyers. He alleged that a group of outsiders had perpetrated vandalism and created havoc for long two hours on the Supreme Court premises in presence of law enforcers. Terming the act ‘shameful and unprecedented’, the SCBA president said this tantamount to attack on the judiciary. He urged the government to take legal action against those responsible for the attack and vandalism, and release the lawyers and justice seekers arrested in connection with the incident. To protest the Sunday’s attack on lawyers, the SCBA president announced work abstention programme on Tuesday across the country and urged the members of the bench and the bar to refrain from work on that day. SCBA vice-president ABM Waliur Rahman Khan, assistant secretary Saifur Rahman and Rafiqul Alam Talukder Raja were, among others, present at the press conference held at the SCBA hall-room. – UNB
