HC attention drawn to PM, law minister's comments
HC attention drawn to PM, law minister's comments
No order issued
The Supreme Court Bar Association chief today placed before Supreme Court and High Court two newspaper reports on prime minister and law minister's comments about HC arrest order for Rab men and caution for judiciary, but the courts did not pass any order in this regard.
The High Court bench of Justice Mirza Hussain Haider and Justice Muhammad Khurshid Alam Sarkarthat earlier ordered arrest of three Rab officers in connection with Narayanganj seven-murder said its jurisdiction is limited.
"We could have passed an order had any of the court’s orders not been complied with," Justice Haider said.
Reacting to the courts' role, the SCBA president Khandaker Mahbub Hossain said that the statements of the prime minister and law minister are similar to undermining the judiciary.
Talking about the May 11 HC order that asked the authorities to arrest the former three Rab-11 officials, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said at a press conference at Gono Bhaban Saturday: "When we were still investigating the matter … and before that investigation was complete … you [journalists] tell us how come a High Court bench orders the arrest of the three?”
At a seminar on Monday, Law Minister Anisul Huq, meanwhile, cautioned against "judicial anarchy" and said judicial activism should not cross its boundary.
On receiving the reports published in The Daily Star on different dates, an Appellate Division bench headed by Chief Justice Md Muzammel Hossain advised Mahbub to place the reports before a “proper court”.
The SCBA president then drew the attention of the HC bench of Mirza Hussain Haider and Justice Muhammad Khurshid Alam Sarkar, which had directed the government to arrest three Rab officials in connection with the seven-murder in Narayanganj.
He also prayed the bench to pass an order on the issue.
On Sunday, a SC lawyer placed Daily Star report on the PM’s statement on the HC arrest order before the HC bench of Justice Mirza Hussain Haider and Justice Muhammad Khurshid Alam Sarkar.
The bench is yet to pass an order on this issue, he said.