Staff Reporter :
An election sub-committee formed by lawyers loyal to ruling Awami League announced the result of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) election for the 2022-23 sessions on Wednesday night after a recounting.
Awami League-backed panel candidates Md Momtaz Uddin Fakir and Md Abdun Nur Dulal have been elected as president and secretary respectively.
A controversy was raised over the ballots of the secretary post during the first counting. But after the recounting the issue has been settled though the election Sub-Committee that declared the result in the face of criticism by the opposition.
Lawyers loyal to BNP have won a total of seven posts including two assistant secretaries, treasurer and four executive members.
As per SCBA election results, Mahfuz Bin Yousuf and Mohammad Mahbubur Rahman Khan have been elected as assistant secretaries, while Mohammad Kamal Hossain has been elected to the post of treasurer.
Besides, Kamrul Islam, Mahdin Choudhury, Md Golam Akter Zakir and Md Monzurul Alam Sujan have been elected as executive committee members.
AL backed panel lawyers Md Shahidul Islam and Mohammad Hossain have been elected as vice presidents, while Fatema Begum, Shahadat Hossain Rajib and Subrata Kumar Kundu have been elected as executive committee members.
Earlier, a chaotic situation was prevailed at the SCBA centering its election for the 2022-23 sessions that took place over a month ago.
Pro-Awami League and pro-BNP lawyers engaged into an altercation and a room of the bar building was vandalized on Wednesday over the issue.
The clash took place in front of the conference room in the second floor of the bar building, when a portion of pro-Awami League lawyers stepped to unlock the conference room to capture the election materials kept in the room.
The election materials were kept in the sealed conference room after a controversy created after Secretary candidate of the pro-Awami League panel Abdun Nur Dulal had demanded for a recounting of the votes for the post of secretary at the end of the counting.
Before the announcement of the final results, Advocate AY Mashiuzzaman, convener of the election sub-committee, resigned from his post alleging misconduct on the part of the supporters of Awami League-backed Secretary candidate Md Abdun Nur Dulal. As a result, the announcement of election result has been stopped.
A group of pro-Awami League lawyers who claimed themselves as the members of the newly formed election sub-committee headed by former Vice President of the Supreme Court Bar Association Ozi Ullah stepped to unlock the room to complete the incomplete doings of the resigned sub-committee.
Finally the lawyers group entered into the room breaking the lock under the leadership of Ozi Ullah. The pro-BNP lawyers then vandalized the doors and windows of the room and disconnected the electric line of the room from outside. At least 7 lawyers of pro-BNP part were injured during the clash.
Sources said the pro-Awami League lawyers were continuing their activities to complete the formalities of the election result in the conference room with police protection. And the pro-BNP lawyers were protesting outside of the room.
Incumbent Secretary of the SCBA Barrister Ruhul Quddus Kazal claimed that the election sub-committee formed headed by lawyer Ozi Ullah is illegal and what they are doing in the name of completing election procedures is unprecedented. He urged all the lawyers of the Supreme Court protest the illegal steps of the pro-Awami League lawyers.
Voting in two-day polls to elect the office bearers for the 2022-2023 sessions of the Supreme Court Bar Association were held on March 15 and 16. Then the counting of votes ended at midnight on March 17.
As incumbent Secretary Barrister Ruhul Quddus Kazal was leading during the end of counting the votes, supporters of his rival Md Abdun Nur Dulal locked in a chaos on early hours of March 18.
Supporters of Abdun Nur Dulal demanded for a recounting of the votes for the post of Secretary at the end of the counting. But without disposing of the petition filed by the supporters of Abdun Nur Dulal, the Convener of the election sub-committee Advocate AY Mashiuzzaman resigned.
AY Mashiuzzaman said, “Although I mentioned medical grounds in the resignation letter, actually I have been humiliated. For many years I have been conducting the election of the Supreme Court Bar Association. But I have never seen such dirtiness in SCBA. I wanted to bring the election system of the SCBA into a form, but I saw that it was not happening.”
He also said, “The behavior of the supporters of the Secretary candidate of the Awami League-backed panel is unexpected. Senior lawyers of the panel were also present at that time and they didn’t take any step to stop their supporters.”
Sources said, main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party- backed lawyers’ blue panel bagged majority of the posts, including the Secretary, in the Supreme Court Bar Association election. Ruling Awami League-backed white panel secured six posts, including the President.
The SCBA polls were held on March 15 and 16, but the election results of the bar association of about 8,000 lawyers remained pending for over a month.
