The Supreme Court Bar Association of Bangladesh (SCBA) yesterday (April 24, 2008) endorsed a resolution to condemn the decision of the Supreme Court declaring that no court, including the Supreme Court itself, has the right to entertain applications on bail in matters relating to the Emergency Power Rule (EPR). The resolution read, The meeting endorsed a resolution by voice vote declaring not to give the traditional retirement farewell to incumbent Chief Justice M. Ruhul Amin and the reception to the new chief justice as a mark of protest. The SCBA is deeply shocked and angered by the action of the Appellate Branch of the Supreme Court on April 23, declaring that the prohibition against bail in EPR matters applies to all courts including the Supreme Court.
Barrister Rafique-ul Haque, one of the most senior lawyers stated as follows:
“The judges have forgotten their oath while they sworn in that they would conduct trials beyond fear and favour. However, they have been declaring the verdicts having been afraid of the government. We will now address the judges of the Appellate Division as ‘Sir’ instead of ‘My Lord’ as they relegated the status of the Supreme Court to any subordinate Court or Tribunal by the judgment.”
Referring to the recent verdicts of the Appellate Division in the bail petitions the eminent lawyer continued:
“This Appellate Division wants to pull us back to the 18th century when there was bonded labour system in America. We shall wear black badge on the retirement day”.
Another lawyer, a former Secretary of the SCBA also condemned the judgment stating:
The Supreme Court is constituted comprising the Appellate Division and the High Court Division. The High Court Division is not a subordinate Court to the Appellate Division; it (Appellate Division) has no jurisdiction or power to determine the authority and jurisdiction of the High Court Division. Any interference by the Appellate Division on the jurisdiction and authority of the High Court Division seems unconstitutional and unlawful.”
There is serious discontent about this unprecedented judgment on the part of the Supreme Court abdicating their constitutional role as the protection of fundamental rights. There is also widespread discontent about the allegations of corruption against the judges, including the judges of the highest court in the land. The fear is that due to possible reprisals, the Supreme Court is giving a free hand to the executive and that this will affect the citizens of the country badly.
The draconian bail provisions under the EPR have already leaded to a huge increase of arrests and detentions. While the normal capacity of the jails in Bangladesh is about 27,000 persons, there are already around 81,000 under arrest according a Bar Council source. Among such detainees are politicians, journalists and civil society activists. The judgment of the Supreme Court, it is feared, will strengthen the hands of the executive who may arrest and detain all persons whom they consider undesirable in the coming days.
Like the lawyers of Pakistan, the lawyers in Bangladesh too, are increasingly realising that unless they resist the military regime will destroy all the basic rights of the people which in turn would also destroy any possibility of redress through judicial means and the legal profession itself. The protests relating to traditional retirement farewell for the present chief justice who is due to retire soon and the welcome reception for the incoming chief justice is only one of the more prominent expressions of the extreme frustrations faced by the lawyers who feel that they are unable to carry out their duties towards their clients.
The Asian Human Rights Commission calls upon the local and international human rights community to support the lawyers and others in Bangladesh to reverse the judgments of the Supreme Court and also to withdraw the draconian rules of the EPR.
For further information please see our earlier statement: BANGLADESH: Supreme Court abdicates its powers relating to bail on emergency law matters at http://www.ahrchk.net/statements/mainfile.php/2008statements/1485/
