Attorney general quits

AF Hassan Ariff

Attorney General AF Hassan Ariff resigned from his office yesterday apparently over growing discord with the government on several issues, including cancellation of an additional High Court judge's Bar Council enrolment certificate and voting of the Supreme Court Bar Association.

Law Minister Moudud Ahmed said the government has accepted his resignation, which takes effect from April 30 afternoon. Additional Attorney General AJ Mohammad Ali is going to take over from Hassan Ariff on May 2, sources at the law ministry said.

"My health has deteriorated due to work pressure and I cannot continue anymore," Hassan Ariff told reporters at his chamber at Katabon in the capital yesterday afternoon.

"I've expressed my intention to the prime minister to resign several times earlier, but she didn't agree. She at last granted me the permission when I met her yesterday (Wednesday)," he said.

"I sent my resignation letter to the law ministry at around 12:30pm today only after the prime minister's consent."

He said the letter has been addressed to the president and would be forwarded to the president's office through the Prime Minister's Office.

Hassan Ariff served as Deputy Attorney General from August 1985 to March 1996 and as Assistant Attorney General between 1982 and 1985. He said he will continue practising law at the Supreme Court.

Asked whether his discord with the government led to the resignation, he answered in the negative: "I've enjoyed full cooperation from the government. There is no ministry that didn't assist in my work. I've received all sorts of cooperation I sought from them."

"I worked earlier with the government from 1991-95 and I faced no problem then. I did not face any interference in my work from any ministry. There should be no confusion about this," he said.On whether the prime minister asked him to continue his job during their meeting Wednesday, he said: "She gave consent to my intention to resign."

"Since the Dhaka-10 by-election, there were many cases and contempt of court issues to deal with. The work pressure was immense, my health was steadily deteriorating," he said.

"My personal practice [has been] hampered due to the massive pressure."

Sources said the government was 'annoyed' with his role on several issues, including Bangladesh Bar Council's cancellation of an enrolment certificate for additional High Court Judge Faisal Mahmud Faizee, removal of an additional High Court Judge Shahidur Rahman, interpretation of Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Act, separation of the judiciary and appointment of law officers.

The Faizee issue has been learnt to have caused the latest discord as pro-government lawyers believe Hassan Ariff did not play an active role when the Bar Council held a meeting to cancel Faizee's enrolment. The attorney general skipped the meeting despite being the ex-officio chairman of the Bangladesh Bar Council. Sources said the government asked him to speak for Faizee at the extended meeting of the Council scheduled for May 13, which embarrassed Hassan Ariff.

The government was also disturbed by his not playing any role to dissuade the lawyers from boycotting Faizee's court, sources said.

Hassan Ariff wrote a note to the government to challenge HC verdict, which termed illegal the president's order to remove Shahidur, but the government decided otherwise, the sources said.

The attorney general, who is the chief law officer of the state, interpreted the ACC Act and said all staff of the now-defunct Bureau of Anti-Corruption (Bac) would be absorbed in the ACC on Bac dissolution, but the Cabinet Division contested his interpretation. The law ministry later also termed his interpretation wrong and said its decision on the matter is final.

Pro-government lawyers were also angry with Hassan Ariff, as he being the ex-officio chairman of the Bar Council kept 'aloof' when they moved to amend the voter list for the recently held Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) election. The High Court directed him to see if there were loopholes in the list, but he did not find any, much to the displeasure of the lawyers linked to the government, who later withdrew from the voting.

He also had a difference of opinion with the government when it asked him to appoint some 25 law officers to his office.

Finally, Hassan Ariff argued vehemently with Moudud over a wide range of issues, sources said.

Sources said lawyer-ministers Barrister Nazmul Huda and Barrister Aminul Haq, pro-government lawyers, including TH Khan and Khondoker Mahbubuddin Ahmed, met the law minister several times this week and discussed the issues.

Asked if Hassan Ariff's resignation had anything to do with his reported discord with the government over the cancellation of an enrolment certificate of Faizee and SCBA's recent movement and election, the law minister told The Daily Star that the press has invented these rumours, which are totally false. The attorney general resigned purely on health grounds, he said, adding Hassan Ariff had been saying over the last six months that he wanted to resign on health reasons.

Sources, meanwhile, said some other law officers of the Office of Attorney General may follow in the attorney general's footsteps soon.