Chief Justice walks out of courtroom, what the Attorney General said

Attorney General Md Ruhul Quddus Kazal said Supreme Court Bar Association President AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon had claimed that he raised certain issues with the chief justice in the interest and welfare of lawyers, but no such discussion took place during today’s proceedings.

A five-member Appellate Division bench led by the chief justice left the courtroom shortly after 12:00 PM today while SCBA President Mahbub Uddin Khokon was making submissions regarding a Tk 500,000 cost imposed on a lawyer in a case.

Following this, AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon held a briefing in front of the extended building of the High Court Division.

Later, at around 2:15 PM, Attorney General Md. Ruhul Quddus Kazal held a briefing in his office. He said, "The Chief Justice prioritises judicial discipline and honesty. If he sees any fraud, he deals with it seriously."

Referring to an incident that began with the appointment of a Kazi (marriage registrar) in 2013, Ruhul Quddus said, "The plaintiff filed five writ petitions challenging the same order...He filed five writ petitions, yet the previous rejection orders were not mentioned in the subsequent writs. That is why the Appellate Division today fined both the female lawyer and the writ petitioner Tk 500,000 each, which the Supreme Court ordered to be deposited in the Dhaka Shishu Hospital.”

“According to the female lawyer's statement, AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon was the senior lawyer in the case. When the order was passed in the morning, the female lawyer was sitting beside me and heard the order. Mahbub Uddin was not present there."

Attorney General Ruhul Quddus Kazal noted that the order in that case was passed around 9:15 am. He said, "And this incident (leaving the courtroom) unfolded at 12:35 pm...During another case, Mahbub Uddin Khokon brought up that topic (imposition of costs) and said, 'You have fined a lawyer.' In response, the Chief Justice said, 'Look, we have passed an order after reviewing everything carefully, we will not change our order. Because, according to their (the court's) statement, a serious fraud has been committed. Fraud was committed with the court and even a previous order of the Supreme Court's Appellate Division was defrauded.' Under these circumstances, he said, 'You (Mahbub Uddin Khokon) should not say this.'"

Attorney General Ruhul Quddus said, "Then, highly unexpectedly, Mahbub Uddin Khokon blurted out, 'After you became Chief Justice, the income of lawyers has decreased.' The Chief Justice took the matter somewhat lightly. Then he said, 'Do you (Mahbub Uddin Khokon) really mean this?' When Mahbub Uddin Khokon tried to say more or less the same thing again, the Chief Justice said, 'What you (Khokon) have said absolutely amounts to contempt of court. Since you have made such a major statement, I will no longer participate in court proceedings today.' Saying this, he (the Chief Justice) got up and left (the courtroom)."