Charges pressed against top lawyers for SC vandalism

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Investigators of the November 30 vandalism on the Supreme Court (SC) premises yesterday pressed charges against 13 people including eminent jurists Dr Kamal Hossain, Barrister Rokanuddin Mahmud and Barrister Amir-Ul-Islam.

Though the complainant of the case accused them of sedition, no such charge was brought in the charge sheet as the investigation officer (IO) found no evidence of sedition.

The other accused in the charge sheet are former Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) secretary Advocate Enayetur Rahim, former SCBA vice president Advocate Subrata Chowdhury, Barrister Tania Amir and advocates Sheikh Awsafur Rahman, Subrata Saha, Khairuzzaman Tipu, Khasruzzaman, Mamun Mahbub and Suhrawardy and Habibur Rahman, an outsider.

Inspector Naimur Rahman of Detective Branch (DB), also IO of the case, submitted the charge sheet to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s (CMM) Court, Dhaka, showing 30 people as prosecution witnesses.

The charges were brought under sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 447 (criminal trespass), 448 (house-trespass), 427 (mischief), 435 (mischief by fire), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 114 (abetment) of the Bangladesh Penal Code.

Barrister Omar Sadat, son-in-law of BNP leader and former minister Shahjahan Siraj, filed the criminal case with the CMM’s Court on December 4 naming four lawyers and against 50 to 60 other unidentified lawyers and others for vandalising the offices of the chief justice and attorney general, and also for disturbing court proceedings on November 30.

Those named in the complaint are Rokanuddin Mahmud, Enayetur Rahim, Subrata Chowdhury and Sheikh Awsafur Rahman.

“Apart from the four FIR (first information report)-named accused, nine others have been included in the charge sheet as their involvement in the vandalism was found during investigation,” the IO told The Daily Star yesterday.

The SCBA also investigated the incident but did not find involvement of any lawyers.

An eight-member SCBA probe body in its report on December 18 said they talked to 120 SC staff, lawyers and witnesses. But none of them said any lawyer was involved in the vandalism, the report added.

In his complaint, Omar Sadat said Rokan asked the accused lawyers and outsiders to vandalise the chief justice’s chamber, courtrooms and other public property, and also to threaten the attorney general.

Metropolitan Magistrate ABM Abdul Fattah later recorded statement of the complainant and directed Shahbagh police to investigate the allegations and register an FIR if those are found true.

On investigation as per the court directive, Shahbagh police registered the complaint as an FIR on December 5.

The vandalism on the SC premises took place after chief justice stayed the proceedings of three writ petitions minutes before a High Court bench was about to issue a rule on a writ challenging the legality of the president’s takeover as chief adviser to the caretaker government.

Leaders of the 14-party alliance and other political parties filed the writ petitions which also challenged the chief adviser’s activities, and announcement of the schedule for the next general election.

The IO said prosecution witnesses saw outsider Habibur Rahman torching the vehicle of the former state minister for law parked on the SC premises.

Sources said a former state minister, complainant of the case Sadat and another BNP leader monitored the whole process of preparing and submitting the charges. And they dictated the police involved in the investigation about who are to be chargesheeted.

The three BNP leaders on Thursday went to Hawa Bhaban, BNP’s Banani office, with a draft copy of the charge sheet, the sources said, seeking anonymity.

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Eminent lawyer Barrister Rafiq-ul-Haq told The Daily Star last night that filing of the case and submission of charge sheet are politically motivated and have malafide intention behind.

None of the accused lawyers were present on the spot when the incidents took place, he said.

Dr M Zahir, another renowned lawyer, said, ” The case has caused a great setback to the unity we had in the SC Bar… I do not believe that such prominent lawyers committed such offence.”

President of the SCBA and an accused in the case Amir-Ul-Islam said it is definitely a politically motivated case, and an attack on freedom of the Bar. “I think a vested quarter is persistently trying to destroy the independence of the judiciary,” he said.

Replying to a question, he said he was briefing journalists at his SCBA office room at the time of the incident.

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