Staff Reporter :
The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) on Thursday strongly protested and condemned the 16th Amendment to the Constitution and demanded its immediate annulment. The protest came a day after the pass of the ’16th Constitution Amendment Bill’ that re-empowered the Parliament to remove the Supreme Court judges.
Addressing a press briefing at the SCBA auditorium in the city, President of the Association Advocate Khandker Mahbub Hossain said that the amendment was passed ‘illegally and immorally’ to empower the Parliament formed through a voterless January 5 election. The Parliament has no right to pass such amendment, he added demanding annulment thereof.
“This change has put the independence of the judiciary under threat. The Awami League government will have to answer to the people some day or the other,” he said.
Khandker Mahbub, also Vice-Chairman of Bangladesh Bar Council, said that they would hold a view exchange meeting with presidents and secretaries of all the bar associations of the country on Saturday to discuss the next course of action in this regard. He claimed that the government amended the Constitution to control and threat the judiciary politically, ignoring objection from leading lawyers, civil society and media. Responding to a query, he said that the SCBA would not challenge the amendment unless the judiciary was free from political pressure.
The SCBA Secretary Barrister AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon also spoke at the press briefing.
