SC reigns supreme

In the last two years the Supreme Court drew much attention for its role in ensuring justice in larger public interest on a wide range of issues.
From correcting the wrongful distortion of the country's liberation war history to righting the wrongs done to the nation's constitution, it boldly stepped forward to the rescue.
The highest court intervened whenever the executive branch of the state failed to stop illegal grabbing of land and rivers, violation of human rights, sexual harassment of women, and pollution of the environment.
Experts however observed that intervention by the highest court on dozens of such issues might not have been required had the executive branch been capable enough to provide remedy to the victims.
And question still remains whether the executive is really delivering remedy to the people in compliance with the rulings of the court. In many cases a positive scenario is yet to be visible.
The apex court earned praise and respect for declaring the country's past military regimes illegal, and striking off the fifth and seventh amendments to the constitution.
The judges also asked the government to probe into the military takeovers by slain president Ziaur Rahman and the ousted military ruler HM Ershad. The court ruled that Ershad could be tried for illegal takeover of power from an elected government in 1981.
It was the apex court that put the controversy over who proclaimed the country's independence to rest.
In a landmark ruling on June 21, 2009, the High Court Division of SC said it was Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman who proclaimed the independence of the country in 1971. It also declared illegal and unconstitutional the publications that claim the independence was proclaimed by late president Ziaur Rahman, who was also the founder of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).
The SC also resolved the dispute over BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia's previous residence in Dhaka Cantonment.
The High Court and Appellate divisions of SC issued directives in around 100 public interest litigations sought to protect the environment, and legal, constitutional, fundamental, and human rights of the people.
In July last year, the HC declared all kinds of extra-judicial punishment including those in the name of fatwa illegal, and directed the authorities to take steps banning corporal punishment to school students.
In March 2009, the HC ruled against import of any ship for scrapping unless hazardous chemicals are cleaned at source outside Bangladesh.
The same year the HC issued guidelines to stop sexual harassment of women at work places, educational institutions, and public places.
It directed the government to demarcate boundaries of the Buriganga, Balu, Turag, and Shitalakkhya rivers and stop their illegal grabbing.
On October 4 last year, it ruled that Bangladesh is now a secular state since the original constitution of 1972 was automatically restored following the SC judgment on the fifth amendment.
In this secular state, everybody has religious freedom, and therefore no man, woman or child can be forced to wear religious attires like burqa, cap and dhoti, it said.
Expressing grave concern over repeated instances of men stalking women and girls with tragic consequences, the HC on November 2, last year directed the government to formulate a policy and guidelines to curb the prevalence of the crime.
The High Court disposed more than 50,000 cases over the last four months following the chief justice's initiative to speed up disposal of cases.
Since assumption of office in September last year, Chief Justice ABM Khairul Haque took measures for quick disposal of more than one lakh criminal cases pending with the HC, said an SC official wishing anonymity.
"If this trend continues, I think the backlog of cases will be reduced to a very tolerable level by the end of this year, and the litigants won't have to wait for years to get their cases adjudicated," said eminent jurist Dr Shahdeen Malik.
Manzill Musrhid, who moved over 50 public interest litigations, told The Daily Star that people went to the court because the administration always does not do its job.
Some of the directives of the highest court are also not being implemented on time by the government, he added saying, although the court ordered to remove structures from the rivers around Dhaka, the government is not so active in removing the structures established by influential people.
The HC in a verdict on June 1, 2009, directed the government to set up food courts in every district and to appoint sufficient food analysts and food inspectors in all districts within two years to prevent food adulteration, but that order is yet to be implemented by the government, he said.

He however said if the court did not pass such orders, the situation would be worse.
The attorney general welcomed the SC rulings, even though the main opposition BNP sees the chief justice as a "controversial" person.
In an interview with The Daily Star, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam said, "The Supreme Court played the most proactive role in the history of judiciary to uphold the constitution, and also to establish rule of law."
He said the SC verdict in the case of the fifth amendment "is not only a world class judgment, but also a literature in the legal arena".
The attorney general is dismayed that attempts are being made to politicise the apex court and its rulings.
He accused pro-BNP lawyers of trying to politicise both divisions of the SC over BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia's previous residence in Dhaka Cantonment.
Barrister Mahbub Uddin Khokon, a BNP leader, said they will not accept Chief Justice ABM Khairul Haque as the chief adviser to the next caretaker government if his name is proposed. "He has become controversial," Khokon said.
Dr Shahdeen Malik said the provision of making the last retired chief justice the head of caretaker government "is an unwise decision of the politicians". "The nation has to pay the price for that unwise decision," he added.
Chief Justice ABM Khairul Haque administered oath to two HC judges amid protests from the Supreme Court Bar Association led by pro-BNP lawyers on November 4 last year.
SCBA leaders then criticised the chief justice and demanded that he steps down.
The chief justice said he administered the oath to uphold the constitution.