Lawyers are not for protecting offenders: CJ
Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha today said professional obligations require lawyers to protect rule of law and not to protect offenders.
"You are the souls of the judges who cannot write a single line without your cooperation . . . it is the lawyers who play the pioneering role in upholding rule of law," he told at a function marking the opening of Chief Judicial Magistracy Court Building at Chittagong Court this evening, reports BSS.
Regretting the incident of vandalism yesterday and calling it a "despicable incident", he said: "My heart bleeds (at the incident) . . . lawyers' responsibility is to establish the rule of law and not to protect the offenders."
Sinha described the lawyers as groomers and patrons of the rule of law and urged them for upholding this noble profession.
About the long cherished demand for setting up a circuit bench of the High Court in Chittagong, the CJ said the matter is under active consideration of the Prime Minister as the chief of the judiciary.
"If there is any circuit bench set up outside the High Court, it will be in Chittagong", he said adding that the procedure is delayed due to shortage of judges in the High Court.
Law Minister Advocate Anisul Haque said the government tried the murder cases of Bangabandhu and his family members, four national leaders, war criminals and even the most sensational seven murders in Narayanganj.
The law minister called for a strong and balanced coordination between bar and bench for speedy disposal of huge pending cases and to ensure justice and rule of law, BSS adds.
CJ forms probe body over vandalism in Ctg court
Earlier on the day, the chief justice formed a three-member committee to investigate into the vandalism at a Chittagong court.
The committee is headed by Supreme Court Registrar General Syed Aminul Islam while two other members are Sabbir Faiz, additional registrar of the High Court Division of the SC, and Hussain Mohammad Reza, senior judicial magistrate of Chittagong, HC Registrar Abu Syed Diljar Hussain told The Daily Star.
The committee will investigate why the incident of vandalism at the Chittagong court took place and who were involved in the incident, he said. The committee will submit the report to the chief justice, he said, adding that the committee was not given any specific limit for concluding the enquiry and submitting the report.
Agitating lawyers yesterday vandalised a Chittagong court after it rejected a bail petition of their fellow lawyer and his wife in a human trafficking case.
The couple was arrested at Shah Amanat International Airport on Tuesday night in connection with helping two people, including a Rohingya woman named Rozia, to go to Saudi Arabia with fake Umrah visas.
On the same day, police produced the two accused -- Jamal Hossain and his wife Yasmin Akhter -- before the court of Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Md Shadat Hossain Bhuiyan and sought a five-day remand for each of them.
As the court rejected their bail prayer, the lawyers started screaming, a court police said seeking anonymity.
At that time, the judge left the courtroom hurriedly and went to his chamber.
The agitating lawyers then vandalised the nameplate of the judge, windows of his chamber and ransacked the files at the courtroom, said police.
They also scuffled with police who were trying to pacify them, they said.
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