Staff Reporter :
A section of Supreme Court lawyers on Tuesday staged a sit-in programme demanding regular operation of the court activities. The lawyers under the banner of ‘learned lawyers’ organised the programme on the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) premises.
Advocate Taimur Alam Khandaker, a participant of the programme, said most of the institutions in the country have been opened in accordance with the health guidelines. Lawyers are the conscious professional group, therefore, we request the chief justice to open the regular court proceedings in compliance with the hygiene rules, added the lawyer.
The lawyer observes if the normal functioning of a Constitutional court is stopped, the constitutional rights of the people will also be jeopardised.
Advocate M Masud Rana, another participant said, virtual courts cannot be the alternative of the regular courts.
He said, “Many court functions need physical presence of the lawyers and litigants which are not possible in the virtual courts. Under this system many people are being deprived of justice.”
“Virtual courts are holding hearing on the urgent cases and in many cases the courts suggest for placing cases to the regular courts, but now no regular court is functioning in the Supreme Court. Right to justice cannot be protected because regular courts are not open. So we request the chief justice to start the regular court proceedings as early as possible,” condudes the lawyer.
Advocate Ashrafuzzaman Khan, Advocate Mahbubul Alam and Advocate Mostafizur Rahman, among others, were present in the programme.
Meanwhile, another group of lawyers on Monday submitted a memorandum to Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain demanding open functioning of all the courts including the Supreme Court across the country. Advocate Shah Ahmed Badol, convener of the committee for protecting the Constitution of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), and some other lawyers submitted the memorandum.
In view of the new surge of the novel coronavirus Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain on April 4 decided to run the court functions across the country on a limited scale. The Supreme Court administration issued separate notifications to this effect.
Now the courts which are functioning in the Supreme Court’s High Court and Appellate Divisions are running activities in virtual process. Lower courts across the country were also functioning through virtual system. Surrendering process which needs physical presence is opened in the lower courts recently.
Other functions also of the courts need physical presence and the lawyers and justice-seekers cannot move for those as the courts are running in virtual process.
