Chittagong courts: A troubled legacy

Lawyers staying away from work in Chittagong during shutdowns is a legacy dating back to 1989 when they joined the movement to bring down the military regime of HM Ershad.

The Chittagong District Lawyers’ Association continue to skip work on days of strike, though elsewhere in Bangladesh, that is no longer the case.

So, during the last nearly two months of the BNP-Jamaat agitation, work in the Chittagong judiciary has been badly hit, unlike elsewhere in the country.

On days the BNP-Jamaat alliance has called for shutdowns, lawyers have not turned up to defend clients.

Judges have also not sat in courts and cases related to blockade violence have been decided in their chambers.

Justice- seekers are worst hit, especially those who avoided going to police and approach courts directly.

Women seeking relief from domestic violence complain of delay in cases they have filed.

By sticking to this controversial legacy, lawyers in the port city are also denying themselves work.

Their assistants and others linked to the legal profession are all adversely affected. And the lawyers’ association, including senior lawyers, is seeking to discontinue this legacy.

They say the decision was 'taken orally' and they cannot find any written record of such a decision.

Chittagong Speedy Tribunals prosecution lawyer Ayub Khan has written to the law ministry not to count the days of shutdowns as 'working days'.

That is because all cases filed with Speedy Trial Tribunals have to be disposed off within 135 working days.

The sensational murder case of schoolboy Himadri Majumder Himu, who fell to his death after dogs were let loose on him on a roof, have got bogged down in Chittagong due to shutdowns.

No hearing in this case could take place in February because the BNP-Jamaat had called for shutdowns on all working days this month.

With only one witness deposition left, the court was expected finish hearing the closing arguments before delivering a verdict.

“I was hopeful about justice for my son when the case was shifted to speedy trial tribunals. But I don’t see that happening anytime soon now,” the murdered teenager’s father Prabir Majumder told bdnews24.com.

Currently, there are 30 trials pending with the Chittagong Speedy Trial Tribunal, according to Public Prosecutor Ayub Khan.

“Hearing of the Himu murder trial was expected to conclude in a few days. But since the time frame set for trials in this court expired, it has been sent back,” he said.

That seems to be the case in all of the courts in the port city.

A total of 4,099 cases are now being tried under the Chittagong Women and Children Oppression Prevention Tribunal.

Closing arguments have been completed in 72 cases and verdicts are expected according to the court’s prosecutor Jesmin Akter.

“This is painful for the women seeking justice. Especially, for those who avoid police and lodge complaints with the court,” she said.

According to official figures, until Jan 31 there were 22,563 trials pending with the Chittagong Metropolitan Magistrate Court.

Another 13,792 cases are pending with the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court.

According to a senior lawyer, there are almost 4,000 lawyers practicing at the port city’s courts. They are without work.

On Feb 22, present and former leaders of the Chittagong Bar tried to review the decision taken 26 years ago, but without an outcome.

The lawyer leaders are once again expected to meet on Thursday.

Speaking to bdnews24.com, Chittagong Lawyers’ Association President Mazibul Haque said that the 1989 decision was taken in a completely different context.

He said the bars in Natore, Rajshahi and several others districts have already discontinued the practice.

“We are not being able to do that here (Chittagong) due to strong opposition by some (lawyers),” he said.

Meanwhile, the lawyers’ association is yet to find any written record of the decision.

“The decision was recorded in writing, but somehow it has been misplaced. We are all aware about the sentiments of the lawyers and justice seekers," said Chittagong Bar's General Secretary Enamul Haque.

"But, only what I feel is not good enough to drop this practice. We need to come to a decision at the meeting."

Until such time a consensus is reached, work at the Chittagong courts will be held hostage to a troubled legacy.