Heated exchange between CJ and Bar president: What the attorney general says
The exchange followed Bar President Mahbub Uddin Khokon’s request to reconsider a Tk5 lakh fine imposed on a lawyer in a case involving allegations of concealing information and misleading the court.
Attorney General Barrister Ruhul Quddus Kazal today (8 September) said Chief Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury and the other Appellate Division judges left the bench following a heated exchange with Supreme Court Bar Association President Mahbub Uddin Khokon over lawyers' declining incomes.
According to the attorney general, Khokon came to the Appellate Division around 12:30pm and requested that the court reconsider a Tk5 lakh fine imposed on a lawyer.
The chief justice told him that the court had considered all aspects of the case before passing the order and that there was no scope to change it, Kazal said.
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The chief justice told Khokon that the lawyer had concealed information and misled the court, and had also violated an earlier Appellate Division order, according to the attorney general.
At one point, Khokon unexpectedly told the chief justice that lawyers' incomes had fallen since he became chief justice.
The chief justice initially took the remark lightly and asked Khokon if he meant that. When Khokon repeated the allegation, the chief justice said the remark amounted to "absolute contempt of court," Kazal said.
The chief justice then said that, since Khokon had made such a serious statement, he would not participate in the proceedings for the rest of the day and left the bench, the attorney general added.
Khokon's account
Speaking to reporters after the incident, Khokon said he had respectfully requested the chief justice to reconsider the Tk5 lakh fine imposed on a junior lawyer.
He also said lawyers were facing difficulties because cases were not being heard as they had been in the past, resulting in a decline in their income.
There were previously 11 judges and three benches in the Appellate Division, whereas there is now only one bench, he added.
He further said stays and chamber judge orders could also delay the hearing of cases for up to a year, causing hardship to both lawyers and litigants.
"I did not expect the chief justice to react so strongly," Khokon said, adding that as the elected representative of the lawyers, he had a responsibility to raise their concerns.
The case that triggered the exchange
The exchange took place during the hearing of several writ petitions concerning the appointment of a nikah registrar.
The court imposed a Tk5 lakh fine each on writ petitioner Md Nur Alam and his lawyer Sufia Ahmed over allegations of concealing information and deception. The Tk10 lakh total fine is to be deposited with Dhaka Shishu Hospital within 30 days.
Khokon was also a senior lawyer for Nur Alam in the case, but he was not present when the court fined Nur Alam and his lawyer Sufia Ahmed Tk5 lakh each.
The other nikah registrar, Mizanur Rahman Murad, was represented by senior lawyers Anik R Haque and Mohammad Shishir Manir, and lawyer Amit Das Gupta.
