The High Court on Sunday issued a contempt of court rule upon two Supreme Court lawyers, Syed Sayedul Hoque Sumon and Ishrat Hasan, for allegedly posting derogatory comments about the judiciary on their face-book accounts.
In the rule, the court wanted to know from the respondents to explain as to why the contempt of court proceedings should not be initiated against them.
At the same time, the HC summoned Sayedul Hoque Suman and Ishrat Hasan and asked them to appear before it on November 16 to place their explanations on this issue.
The HC bench of Justice Gobinda Chandra Tagore and Justice Mohammad Ullah passed the order while delivering a judgement after holding hearing on a writ petition.
The court also rejected a rule issued earlier by another High Court bench questioning Bangladesh Bar Council’s role in enrolling a law graduate to practice law in the High Court.
In the rule the court wanted to know from the Bangladesh Bar Council and the government to explain as to why the gazette notification that permitted Mohammad Zumman Siddique, son of a High Court division judge, to practice law in the High Court even though he could not qualify in the enrollment examination, should not be declared illegal.
The court also wanted to know in the rule as to why the gazette notification should not be declared illegal.
Following a writ petition, the HC bench of Justice Tariq ul Hakim and Justice Md Iqbal Kabir on December 18 last year stayed the effectiveness of the gazette notification issued by Bangladesh Bar Council permitting Zumman Siddique to practice law in the High Court even though he could not qualify in the enrollment examination and also issued the rule.
The court on Sunday also fined the two lawyers worth Tk 100 each for wasting court’s time by filing such a writ petition.
Supreme Court lawyers Syed Sayedul Hoque Sumon and Ishrat Hasan filed the writ petition challenging the legality of the gazette notification.
They said in the petition that the bar council authorities on October 31 last year issued the gazette notification allowing Zumman Siddique to practice law in the High Court although the enrolment committee of the Bar council led by Justice Md Nuruzzaman refused to endorse the proposal for permitting Zumman to practice law in the court as he failed in the bar council’s MCQ examination for two times.
The court sources said Zumman completed Bar-at-law in New Zealand and he got enrolled at a New Zealand bar for practicing law in that country.
