Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Speaker slammed for SC land remark,Bangladesh


BANGLADESH NEWS

A High Court bench on Tuesday came down heavily on the parliament speaker for his reported comments about a Supreme Court directive for handing over its land from Roads and Highways Department (RHD).

About the SC directives, Speaker Abdul Hamid on May 29 reportedly told the House that the court is neutral and independent but it does not look good when the court takes quick decisions to solve its problems while the people have to wait years for justice.

People may resist the judiciary if the verdict of court makes them angry, the speaker said in reply to a question of parliament member Shahriar Alam.

The speaker also said a measure could have been taken over this issue if the law minister was present in the country.

About his comments, lead Judge AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik on Tuesday said the speaker has provoked people against the SC and the government.

The speaker cannot take part in such a sub judice matter, the judge said.

It was utter ignorance of the speaker about the SC and the constitution and a total abuse of parliamentary privilege, Justice Manik said.

The law minister has no power to take any measure against the judges of the apex court and the SC is not controlled by the law minister, he said.

Justice Manik asked the lawyers whether the court can refer the matter of advocateship of Speaker Abdul Hamid to the Bangladesh Bar Council.

The judge came up with the observation when Advocate Manzill Murshid placed newspaper reports on the speaker’s comments before the HC bench during hearing on a rule.

The HC bench earlier issued a contempt of court rule against some government officials including the communications secretary for handing over the SC land, which is under the possession of Roads and Highways Department.

The bench was scheduled to hold hearing on the rule on Tuesday.

Manzill Murshid told the court that lawmaker Shahriar Alam had advised the Supreme Court to become patient over the issue of SC land.

He further said the speaker has not denied the newspaper reports so it should be considered that the reports were correct.

At a stage, Manik said the speaker has made the outrageous comment against the SC perhaps considering that the court cannot issue any contempt of court rule against him.

Justice Manik said the court has directed the government to hand over the SC land for the greater interest of the people as SC is suffering serious accommodation crisis.

No comments:

Post a Comment