Staff Reporter :
Pro-BNP lawyers on Sunday submitted an application to the office of the Chief Justice requesting him to hold ‘inquiries into the misuse of judicial powers’ regarding shifting of the court to continue the trial of Zia Charitable Trust case against BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia.
They also urged Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain to take appropriate actions against the judicial officers who are ‘encroaching their legal boundaries at the instance of the government’.
In response to such petitions, Law Minister Anisul Huq strongly criticised the BNP and said ‘they do not know the legal system’.
President of the Supreme Court Bar Association Advocate Zainul Abedin and its Secretary Barrister A M Mahbub Uddin Khokan signed the application.
Pro-BNP lawyers Advocate Khandker Mahbub Hossain, Barrister Jamiruddin Sircar, Advocate A J Mohammad Ali, Zainul Abedin, A M Mahbub Uddin Khokan, Advocate Mir Mohammad Nasir Uddin and Barrister Bodruddoza Badal met the Chief Justice at his Supreme Court office and placed the application to him.
After the meeting, Advocate Zainul Abedin told reporters that Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain assured them of looking into the matter within his legal and administrative jurisdiction.
In the application, Advocate Zainul and Barrister Mahbub said shifting the court for holding the trial of Zia Orphanage Trust case against Khaleda Zia has offended the right to have a fair trial of Khaleda Zia as has been guaranteed under Article 35(3) of the Constitution inasmuch as this will cause prejudice to her right to have a public trial.
Khaleda Zia is now seriously ill and she is unable to walk. In this situation, she needs a medical treatment first then trial and the government itself is claiming that she is ill, they said.
In spite of this, the court does not take appropriate step for her treatment by any doctor of her choice, they said in the application.
The lawyers also said the Constitution as well as the statutory scheme does not and cannot allow any government, legal or illegal, to set up any court or to continue any trial in any abandoned jail.
Asked about the lawyers’ allegations, Law Minister Anisul Huq said, “BNP lawyers don’t know laws.”
He made the comment while replying to a query from journalists when he was leaving SC premises after meeting with the CJ.
