Bangladesh High Court overturns speaker’s ruling
Judge had violated constitution by making ‘derogatory remarks’
Dhaka: Bangladesh’s High Court has overturned a ruling by the parliamentary speaker.
The speaker had said that a High Court judge had violated the constitution by making “derogatory remarks” about the parliament and its speaker, apparently intensifying a row between the two state organs.
“The Speaker’s (Abdul Hamid) ruling is inconsistent with the Constitution and the rules of procedure of Parliament,” a two-member High Court bench pronounced yesterday in a verdict on a writ petition filed by aggrieved judge AKM Shamsuddin Chowdhury.
The judgment added: “The Supreme Court (that included the High Court in Bangladesh) possesses the overseeing authority that no organ of the state could cross its limit of power given by the Constitution”.
Hamid gave the ruling in parliament on June 18 which said that Chowdhury had violated the Constitution by making ‘derogatory remark’ after the judge commented in the court that the speaker’s harsh criticism of an earlier court order issued by him was “tantamount to sedition” and he provoked people against the higher judiciary.
Chowdhury also said:“The Speaker is completely ignorant about the SC and the constitution.”
The Speaker’s ruling that came after intensified demands from the lawmakers for censuring the judge.
The lawmakers demanded “unconditional apology” from Chowdhury for making “insinuations and casting aspersions” on the parliamentary speaker.
The verdict came from a second bench as another bench earlier felt “embarrassed” to hear the writ filed by Chowdhury seeking to overturn the speaker’s ruling.
The conflict began as the court earlier ordered removal within 15 days the state-run Roads & Highways Department as it was housed on the Supreme Court land for decades denying prayers for allocation of more time for the relocation of the huge government structure.
The speaker told the House that the courts were neutral and independent, but “it looks odd when they take quick decisions to solve their own problems while people have to wait years for justice”.
Hamid, himself a lawyer by profession, said he wanted to ask the law minister to intervene into the matter so the R&H department got enough time for smooth relocation.
