A High Court Bench of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh has suggested the counsel of a litigant seek bail from Allah (God), in frustration at the limits of its power under Emergency Rule. Since the State of Emergency was declared in January 2007 the High Court has been barred from entertaining bail petitions.
This conclusion, on 26 May, 2008 came as Barrister Abdur Razzak lodged a bail petition on behalf of his client Mr. Ali Ahsan Muhammad Muzahid, who was a minister and secretary general of the Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh. It was made to a bench comprising Justice Nozrul Islam Chowdhury and Justice Ataur Rahman Khan, and was publicised by Bangladeshi media.
According to the reports, the court had asked the Deputy Attorney General (DAG) Mr. Mohammad Ali Akand whether he had approval to lodge the case against Mr. Muzahid under the EPR. Barrister Razzak for bail for his client, reminding the bench that in the past bail had been granted to applicants implicated during the EPR. In reply, Justice Nozrul Islam Chowdhury said:
“We cannot go by the oath we took under the Constitution. It is a Court confined within brackets. When cyclone strikes (over the land) even mosques and temples cannot survive the blow; the places of worships also float in the air. As we (“Any Court”) cannot entertain such petitions, please take it back. Seek bail to the highest judge where you have access to seek justice always. Apply to the ‘Ahkamu’l Hakimeen’ (Allah the most just of judges, according to the Quraan); He is judge of the whole universe, not only of Bangladesh. We have nothing to do.”
The New Age, an English speaking Dhaka-based daily newspaper reported that “Senior lawyers of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh on Tuesday said the High Court bench uttered the words with deep shock, and the lawyers at the highest judiciary had nothing to do but to lament, seeking bail to the Almighty Allah.”
The comments of the High Court judge, and the general disconcertment of the lawyers reflects the shock and frustration of a powerless judiciary and Bangladeshi professionals regarding the prevailing situation of the country.
In recent months the lawyers of Pakistan have made an unprecedented example of struggling for the restoration of their independence, as well as the reinstatement of the judges who were unlawfully deposed by the military dictator. The lawyers, judges and concerned professionals of Bangladesh have their own history of struggling against tyrannical regimes. Despite the present degraded state of judiciary, they still have the potential to fight the odds and salvage the sanctity of their system of justice.
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) urges the professionals and human rights defenders of Bangladesh to initiate a series of debates amongst themselves regarding the independence of the judiciary, and the institutionalization of democracy and the rule of law, instead of simply sighing and lamenting over injustices.
For further information please see our earlier statements in chronological order:
BANGLADESH: Supreme Court abdicates its powers relating to bail on emergency law matters at http://www.ahrchk.net/statements/mainfile.php/2008statements/1485/
BANGLADESH: The lawyers begin their protest movement against emergency laws and the Supreme Court judgment on the issue of bail at
http://www.ahrchk.net/statements/mainfile.php/2008statements/1487/
BANGLADESH: High Court judgment on bail petition under emergency laws at http://www.ahrchk.net/statements/mainfile.php/2008statements/1548/
BANGLADESH: Culture of supersession in Supreme Court will undermine rule of law at
http://www.ahrchk.net/statements/mainfile.php/2008statements/1556/
