Dhaka, Aug 19 (bdnews24.com)–The Supreme Court on Wednesday appointed 10 amici curiae, or senior lawyers, to assist it in the hearing on Aug 25 on the president's reference seeking a directive on the BDR mutiny trial.
The full bench of the Appellate Division headed by chief justice MM Ruhul Amin set the date for hearing at around 9:45am, attorney general Mahbubey Alam told bdnews24.com.
The amici curiae are Kamal Hossain, Rafique-ul Haque, TH Khan, Amir-ul-Islam, Mahmudul Islam, Khandaker Mahbubuddin Ahmed, Rokanuddin Mahmud, Ajmalul Hossain, ASM Mesbahuddin and AF Hassan Ariff.
Rafique-ul Huq told bdnews24.com: "The reference sought opinion on two questions: whether the trial of the BDR carnage would be held under the army act and whether a gazette notification would be issued."
The president sent a reference to the chief justice on Monday seeking a directive on whether the accused in the BDR mutiny case could be tried under military law, specifically the Army Act of 1952.
Asked about his personal opinion, Haque said: "It was not right to send the reference. The government should decide on it."
Khandaker Mahbub said: "It cannot be said instantly under which act the trial of BDR carnage and the mutineers will be held. The Supreme Court has been given the authority to give opinion on the issue."
"The job of the amici curiae is to assist the court as its friends. The court will decide on the matter."
Replying to a query he said: "Any aggrieved person can go to the court on the issue."
The attorney general said: "The amici curiae will give their opinions on the Aug 25 hearing."
On whether the hearing would be held during the vacation, he said: "The court will decide it."
The government sent the reference to the Appellate Division through the president on consideration of public importance, the attorney general said.
Earlier, he said, Alam said: "I applied for the hearing to be held during the vacation. The court has set the date before the vacation attaching importance to the matter."
The court goes on one month's vacation from Sept 1.
The attorney general had said in the hearing earlier in the day that amici curiae should be appointed for reference hearing and given 10 days to prepare.
He suggested the hearing at the beginning of the vacation.
The court said: "The amici curiae might not be available during the vacation. In addition, some of our judges might go on vacation. But we are ready."
Alam said: "If any amicus curiae cannot appear in the court I can request him/her to give written statement and can submit that to the court."
The court set the hearing date on Aug 25 for the convenience of the amici curiae.
An inter-ministerial meeting on the BDR trial decided last month that the president would seek the chief justice's opinion on the BDR trial process as opinions varied widely on whether the accused mutineers should be tried under military or civil law.
"The reference asks to know if there is any bar to trying the BDR mutineers under the Army Act," SC registrar Md Shawkat Hossain told bdnews24.com on Monday.
"It asks what the process would be and whether a gazette notificiation would suffice according to Section 5 of the Army Act to try the mutineers under military law."
Over 70 people were killed in the Feb 25-26 bloodbath in the Peelkhana headquarters of the border guards, of whom 57 were army officers deputed to the paramilitary force. The rest were BDR members and civilian bystanders.
The national probe body on the BDR mutiny, in its report submitted to the government in May, recommended trying the mutineers under the Army Act for fast trial.
There were also suggestions from some quarters to try the accused under a specially formed tribunal.
But in face of concerns aired by BDR families and rights groups over whether a fair and open trial could be held under military law or special tribunal, the government formed an inter-ministerial committee to "look at all aspects" before deciding on the trial process.
The government has said the trial of those responsible for the BDR massacre will be conducted according to the constitution and existing laws, either under the BDR Act, the Army Act or civilian laws.
But law minister Shafique Ahmed has said "complexities remain on some issues".
According to Section 106 of the Constitution, the president can seek an opinion from the Supreme Court on any matter of law or public importance.
On July 4, 1995, the then president Abdur Rahman Biswas had sent a reference to the Supreme Court to seek its opinion on whether a parliamentarian absent from parliament for over 90 days stands liable to lose his seat.
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