Pro BNP-Jamaat lawyers in Chittagong prevent judges from holding hearings

Two judges in Chittagong were forced to leave the courtroom when lawyers supporting BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami raised a hullabaloo over attempts to resume proceedings.

Chittagong District and Sessions Judge Nurul Huda and Divisional Special Judge Ataur Rahman entered the courtroom on Sunday to resume hearings.

But pro-BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami lawyers created much commotion and forced the judges to leave. 

The lawyers, later, gathered below the new court building and demonstrated against the resumption of proceedings. 

Trials in Chittagong courts have been disrupted as lawyers insist on sticking to a decision 26 years ago at the peak of the anti-Ershad agitation that they will not allow proceedings on days of strike.

The 20-Party alliance led by BNP have been enforcing continuous blockades and sporadic shutdowns since Jan 5. Shutdowns were enforced on weekdays continuously from the start of February.  

So, work in the Chittagong judiciary has been badly hit with lawyers not turning up during shutdowns. 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.

The prisons are overflowing with some having inmates six times the capacity because their bail petitions have not been heard.

By sticking to this controversial legacy, lawyers in the port city are also denying themselves work. They say the decision was 'taken orally' and they cannot find any written record of such a decision.

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

Various lawyer's leaders of Chittagong met on Feb 22 and 26 for a resolution on the issue but could not reach a decision.

The two judges went to the courtroom around 10am after nearly a month. 

Prosecutor of Chittagong Divisional Special Judge’s Court Mezbah Uddin Chowdhury told bdnews24.com that members of Jatiyatabadi Ainjibi Oikya Parishad (JAOP) took out a procession when they heard of the judges resuming proceedings. 

They went to the Special Judge’s court and created a ruckus. The judge by then had heard a number of time-extension pleas and scheduled new hearings. 

The prosecutor also alleged that the junior members of JAOP were raising ‘inappropriate’ slogans. “Senior representatives of Ainjibi Oikya Parishad talked to the judge and he left.”

JAOP leader AQM Nurul Islam told bdnews24.com that two judges tried to resume proceedings. “They left after we went there.”