Of late, judgement copies are either being sent overnight from the court or being delayed by weeks apparently to upset the execution process. Observers credit the erratic pace of the AGO to its office bearers, most of whom are directly involved with the BNP and Jamaat politics.

The Japanese boat purchase graft case against HM Ershad and the stay order by Supreme Court freeing the election candidate from the obligation to disclose personal details to the EC are the two most recent controversial instances.

The AGO was also found all too hyperactive on November 30 when it put three writ petitions to rest that challenged Professor Iajuddin to become the caretaker government chief. "I haven't seen such an active role of the AG office in my whole legal stint," remarked a very senior lawyer after that unprecedented incident.

In contrast, the court order rejecting the appeal of top seven JMB leaders against their death sentence (upheld by the HC) could not find its way to the jail authorities even one month into the ruling. Curiously, the AGO runs out of gas in such an important case filed after two judges in Jhalakathi were bombed to death by the JMB.

The HC ordered the EC earlier this year to update the voter list as per the 2000 roll. Though the court asked for execution of the ruling urgently, the order did not reach the EC in the next few weeks. It usually takes about 15 days for a court order to reach its destination, if not intervened by the AGO.

The Appellate Division last week rejected an appeal of Ershad against the December 14 verdict by High Court in which he was asked to surrender to the lower court for corruption in purchase of the Japanese boat.

The legal developments involving Ershad took the reverse course in the last few months when he was dilly-dallying the decision to join the alliance led by the BNP.

Ershad was acquitted in five decade-old graft cases in August and September amid outcry from all and sundry. At that time, the BNP-led alliance was in power and Ershad was all set to join the 4-party coalition.

But as soon as Ershad decided to join the Awami League-led 14-party alliance, the flow of legal system suddenly started to go against him. On December 14, the high court upheld a decade-old lower court verdict in which the former dictator was convicted.

The EC came into play after Ershad submitted his nomination papers in five constituencies. The Returning Officers (ROs) were supposed to scrutinise his nomination Wednesday. And they had no reason to reject Ershad's nomination unless they had a specific court order or any other criterion in hand that disqualifies his candidature, EC experts say. The court order was used against him by dubiously rushing the process.

In this case, the enthusiastic AGO faxed the Tuesday's Appellate Division order to some of the ROs by the Wednesday noon.

The ROs cancelled his nomination upon verbal instructions from a political quarter, sources alleged. At least one of the five ROs did not even receive the faxed court order, they confided.

Sources said, the AGO called up these five ROs on the morning of Wednesday, asking them not to accept or reject Ershad's nomination until they receive the court order. Four of the officers went on to cancel the nomination after receiving the order by noon.

But the returning officer in Dhaka remained confused till the afternoon about what to do. "I sent the matter (Ershad's paper) to the Election Commission," Mahfuzur Rahman, RO at the Dhaka-5 constituency, told the media in the afternoon.

The EC however denied the matter, as an RO cannot send a nomination paper to the EC for a decision. However, the confused RO then announced to cancel Ershad's paper later in the evening. Legal experts criticised his way of handling this matter, saying that what he did was unacceptable.

Earlier on Tuesday, the EC officials met Attorney General AJ Mohammad Ali to get a clear idea about Ershad's fate.