Appointment of members challenged

A writ petition has been filed with the High Court (HC) challenging the appointments of two HC judges to the posts of the chairman and a member of International Crimes Tribunal set up for trying the crimes against humanity.
Nawab Ali, a pro-Jamaat-e-Islami lawyer, and AFM Solaiman Chowdhury, a former secretary, jointly filed the writ petition with the HC on July 11 stating that as per the provision of the constitution, sitting HC judges cannot hold any other office of the republic.
An HC bench of Justice Mamnoon Rahman and Justice Syeda Afsar Jahan started hearing on the petition yesterday.
The bench also adjourned the hearing till July 26, as the state counsel sought time from the court for making preparation.
The government on March 25 this year appointed Justice Nizamul Huq as chairman of the tribunal and Justice ATM Fazle Kabir as member.
Another member of the three-member tribunal is AKM Zahir Ahmad.
Barrister Abdur Razzaq yesterday placed arguments on behalf of the petitioners, saying that the government has violated the provisions of the constitution by appointing two sitting judges of the HC as chairman and member of a tribunal.
The Supreme Court (SC) has been undermined by doing so, barrister Razzaq, also an assistant secretary general of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, said.
Assistant Attorney General Rashed S Jahangir stood for the state.