Be careful while making comments on judiciary

The Supreme Court yesterday asked all to be careful with their remarks about the judiciary and to uphold the court's dignity and image, and not make any unnecessary or derogatory comments.

The court would not hesitate to take necessary measures against anybody, if he or she makes contemptuous comments about it, the apex court said while hearing government petitions against the High Court orders that granted bail to BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.

Someone commented that the judiciary was under the grip and control of the government, which is not correct, since all the courts of the country were fully independent following the separation of the judiciary from the executive, it said.

A four-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha said the judiciary was not so limited in power that it would tolerate such unnecessary comments.

According to UNB, BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia on Saturday at a programme of pro-BNP lawyers had said, “The judiciary has been separated, but it hasn't become independent. The independence of the judiciary has been snatched. In fact, it's now more controlled.”

“From the Supreme Court premises, I want to say there's no rule of law. The law is not equal for all. We see the trial is not the same for the ruling party men and the opposition and common people. It can't be allowed to continue,” Khaleda had told the lawyers.

She claimed that the ruling party men were not being arrested and punished even after committing serious crimes, while the opposition men were sent to jail and punished for committing no crime.

Yesterday, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir's lawyer Khandker Mahbub Hossain told the SC that the lower courts were not really independent, although they were independent on paper. He said it was not possible for the chief justice to monitor the performance of all lower court judges due to the lack of a digitalised system.

Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha told Khandker Mahbub that since taking office, his office had taken appropriate action whenever he received allegations against any judge.

Khandker Mahbub then said the situation regarding the judiciary had changed after the chief justice took charge and that they have become optimistic at the chief justice's statements.

But the history of the judiciary was not good, since it had not applied its inherent powers in protecting democracy, he claimed.

The SC then told Khandker Mahbub that it could take action against him if he went on making such comments.

The apex court said lawyers like Khandker Mahbub and Moudud Ahmed could appear and place arguments before the courts, since the judiciary was independent.

The lawyer then said he was hopeful that the changes would continue.

Attorney General Mahbubey Alam, who opposed the High Court orders of bail to Fakhrul, told reporters that the SC had expressed serious dissatisfaction with the statements of some politicians.

After concluding the hearing, the apex court asked the authorities concerned of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University to form a four-member medical board to examine the heath of Fakhrul and to submit a medical report to it by July 8.

It fixed July 8 for passing orders on the government's petitions against the HC orders that granted bail to Fakhrul in three cases filed under the Explosive Substances Act.

The SC would decide whether it would grant bail to Fakhrul after seeing the medical report, Sagir Hossain Leon, a lawyer for the BNP leader, told The Daily Star.