‘You’ve turned country into hell’

A High Court bench yesterday rebuked the deputy attorney general, saying, "You have turned the country into hell."

The court said this while hearing the bail petition of Odhikar Secretary Adilur Rahman Khan and Director ASM Nasiruddin Elan.

Justice Md Emdadul Haque Azad rebuked Deputy Attorney General (DAG) Rezaul Karim after he attempted to place his argument against the petitioners before Odhikar lawyer AJ Mohammad Ali placed his.

As soon as Ali placed the bail petition, DAG Rezaul said the prosecution had arguments against the petition.

The justice then said, "Let the petitioners' counsel place his arguments first. Then you will place yours. Why did you get started even before the petitioners' counsel made his arguments? You have turned the country into hell."

Later in the day, Attorney General AM Amin Uddin told reporters that Justice Emdadul's comment was unconstitutional.

"Not even a private citizen can say that the country has been turned into hell, let alone a judge," he added.

He informed Chief Justice Obaidul Hassan about the comment made by the judge who will retire on October 15.

Chief Justice Obaidul Hassan then sent for Justice Emdadul and asked him to be more careful while making comments.

Judges of the Appellate Division were present in the chief justice's office at the time, a source told The Daily Star last night.

The attorney general told reporters at his office that Justice Emdadul had violated his oath. "The unconstitutional comment by a judge, who is under oath to protect the constitution, is very unfortunate," he said.

"I learnt about his comment from the news. I also heard it from the deputy attorney general… I discussed the issue with the authorities concerned. Then I met the chief justice and handed him news clippings [prints of online reports] ... ."

It should be investigated whether the judge made the comment for the benefit of those conspiring against the judiciary and if the judge had links with them, said the attorney general.

ADILUR, ELAN GET BAIL

During the hearing, Ali said each of his clients was sentenced to two years in prison and fined Tk 10,000 under section 57(2) of the ICT Act.

DAG Rezaul told the court that there are allegations that Adilur and Nasiruddin provided false information and spread propaganda against the state.

Justice Emdadul then asked why the sentence was only two years when it should have been life in prison.

At the end of the hearing, the bench granted bail to Adilur and Elan and stayed the trial court order that fined them Tk 10,000 each.

The court also said it will hear an appeal that challenged the trial court verdict.

Ruhul Amin Bhuiyan, a lawyer for Adilur and Elan, told The Daily Star that unless the Appellate Division stayed the HC order of bail, his clients will be released from Keraniganj jail.

Adilur and Elan were sued for coming up with "a distorted report and doctored images" on the police action at a Hefajat-e-Islam rally in the capital in 2013.

A Dhaka court on September 14 this year delivered the verdict and ordered them to be sent to jail.

Odhikar's report claimed that 61 people died in the early hours of May 6 when the law enforcers flushed several thousand Hefajat activists out of the capital's Motijheel.

The government put the number of deaths at 13.