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Published : 08 Mar 2016, 08:30 AM
Food Minister Qamrul Islam and Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Huq will have to appear before the top court on Mar 15.
The nine-member full bench of the Appellate Division, led by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha, gave the order on Tuesday.
The court said that the ministers’ comments, made at a discussion, “undermined the dignity and prestige of the Supreme Court and the chief justice’s office.”
It issued a notice asking why legal actions would not be taken against them for their comments, which tantamount to contempt of court.
The court ordered the ministers to appear before it on Mar 15 to explain their remarks.
The top court’s next order was the final verdict on the war criminal’s appeal, in which it sentenced the Jamaat-e-Islami leader to death for atrocities against Bangalees committed during the Liberation War in 1971.
Speaking at a discussion on Mar 5, Qamrul had called for a re-hearing of the appeal before a new bench that, in his view, should exclude the chief justice.
“Through a comment of the chief justice in a court, we have realised what verdict will be delivered in the case. We have realised that there is no scope for awarding the death penalty [to the convict],” the food minister had said.
Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Huq also criticised the chief justice at the discussion.
Their statements created a firestorm.
Mir Quasem’s chief counsel and Supreme Court Bar Association President Khandker Mahbub Hossain and other BNP leaders described the comments as ‘an intervention in the judiciary’s independence’.
Attorney General Mahbubey Alam reacted by urging all to avoid making controversial remarks on Mir Quasem’s appeal.
Law Minister Anisul Huq and Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed had said that no one should comment on sub judice matters.
