Staff Reporter :
BNP on Monday demanded immediate resignation of Food Minister Qamrul Islam and Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Huq who have been convicted of contempt of court.
“The two ministers should quit voluntarily from the cabinet and parliament without delay for maintaining the dignity and image of the Supreme Court,” said BNP standing committee member Moudud Ahmed at a press briefing at the party’s Nayapaltan central office.
He also demanded cancellation of all the orders signed by the two ministers after the pronouncement of the Supreme Court verdict on March 27. “If it’s not done, it’ll have a far-reaching negative impact on the democratic system,” he added.
Moudud further said it is not only a matter of law but a matter of ethics and their resignation will boost their image in society. On March 27, the Supreme Court fined ministers Qamrul Islam and AKM Mozammel Huq Tk 50,000 each for their controversial comments about Chief Justice SK Sinha in connection with the war crimes case against Jamaat-e-Islami leader Mir Quasem Ali.
On 14 March, ministers Qamrul Islam and Mozammel Huq offered unconditional apology to the court for their remarks. The Supreme Court on March 8 summoned the duo to appear before it on March 15 for their reactions to the remarks of Chief Justice SK Sinha about the prosecution as regards the trial of Mir Quasem Ali in a war crimes case. Qamrul and Mozammel had demanded resignation of the Chief Justice for his reported remarks that ‘the prosecution is doing politics with the trial of condemned war criminal Mir Quasem Ali’.
They made the demand at a roundtable discussion organised by Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee in the city on March 5. Moudud said they are seeking resignation of the two ministers as the government still did not make any statement on the issues even after the Supreme Court’s Appellate division released its full verdict. “The emerging situation has created a serious national and constitutional crisis.”
He said the moral degradation of the two ministers has clearly manifested as they are still holding their offices. “It’s a question of their moral state alongside the legal aspects. “I think they should quit right away showing respect for law.” Moudud, a former law minister, said according to Section 3 (1) of the Public Servants (Dismissal on Conviction) Ordinance, 1985, a public servant cannot remain in his/her post after being fined over Tk 10,000 by court for criminal offence.
He said the ministers are also public servants and they have been punished with a monetary fine of Tk 50,000 each. Giving some relevant instances, the BNP leader said Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, India’s Maharashtra Transport Minister Swarup Singh Naik and Kerala Minister R Balakrishna Pillai resigned after they were found guilty of contempt of court. “The rule of law will be impeded and the judiciary’s image will be tarnished if the Cabinet is functioned with the convicted ministers,” he observed.
Replying to a question whether there is any scope to take action if the two ministers do not quit willingly, Moudud said, “We’ll wait to see what the Supreme Court does in this regard.”
He also criticised the government for what he said foiling a schedule programme of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal at the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh yesterday. “We strongly condemned it. The incident has once again exposed that the country lacks democracy and politics.”
