Pro-BNP lawyers create chaos in SC over decision to defer Khaleda's bail hearing

Pro-BNP lawyers have stirred up a ruckus in the Supreme Court to demand an earlier date for the hearing of Khaleda Zia’s bail appeal in Zia Charitable Trust corruption case.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 5 Dec 2019, 07:56 AM
Updated : 5 Dec 2019, 10:04 AM

The disgruntled lawyers blocked the courtroom doors as they chanted slogans of 'We want justice' and 'Bail for Khaleda'.

It followed the court's decision to defer a hearing on a bail plea by Khaleda after BSMMU authorities sought more time to submit a report on the BNP chairperson's health.

Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain condemned the 'unprecedented' commotion which eventually forced all six justices of the Appellate Division to leave the court.

Attorney General Mahbubey Alam also denounced the events as 'shameful' and called for necessary measures against the BNP-supporting lawyers.

On Nov 28, the Appellate Division ordered the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University authorities to submit a medical report on Khaleda, pending a decision on her bail plea.

But on Thursday, the BSMMU authorities sought more time to prepare the report as they still had a few tests left to run on Khaleda, said the attorney general.

The court subsequently gave the authorities until Dec 11 to hand in the medical report and fixed Dec 12 to issue the next order in the matter. The decision touched of a hue and cry among pro-BNP lawyers as they pressed for an earlier hearing date for the bail appeal.

Khaleda's legal counsels Khandaker Mahbub Hossain, AJ Mohammed Ali, Joynul Abedin, Barrister Moudud Ahmed, Mahbub Uddin Khokon and Nitai Roy Chowdhury were stuck in the courtroom as they tried to contain the chaos.

State counsels, including the attorney general, Supreme Court Bar Association President AM Aminuddin, Azmalul Hossain QC, Sheikh Fazle Nur Taposh and Kamrul Islam, were also trapped inside the courtroom.

The justices left the courtroom at 10:30 am, bringing court proceedings to a halt.

“The BNP lawyers have brought their movement into the court and created chaos,” said the attorney general.

“At one point, the court had to be adjourned due to the disorder they caused. They did not allow the court follow its schedule.”

The pro-BNP lawyers caused the disorder in order to exert ‘undue pressure on the court’, said the chief state counsel. “The commotion they created was unprecedented, unimaginable. I have never seen it before. They were acting in contempt of court and the chaos was similar to what we see in a public rally.”

Aminuddin alleged that many of the protesters clad in black were not lawyers at all as he urged the chief justice to expel the "outsiders" from the court premises.

“Many of them wore black coats but in reality, they were outsiders. No lawyer can chant such slogans.”

“They don’t respect the court; they have contempt for the Supreme Court. I strongly condemn their defiant act. I believe they should face stern legal action,” said Aminuddin.

The state counsels held the briefing against the backdrop of slogans from the pro-BNP lawyers as the commotion raged on.

The justices later returned to the courtroom as court officers began calling the other matters on the hearing list.

When the pro-BNP lawyers again sought to raise the issue of Khaleda's bail, the chief justice intervened and said, "We won't listen to anything else right now. There should be a limit to everything. This is unprecedented. I've never seen such a situation in court before."