remarks on CJ
Legal notice served on two ministers
A legal notice was served asking Food Minister Quamrul Islam and Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque to explain their position over making comments on the appeal of Mir Quasem Ali and the chief justice.
Advocate SM Julfiqar Ali, a Supreme Court lawyer, sent the notice asking them to reply to the notice within 24 hours. Otherwise, he will move before the court by filing a writ petition with the High Court to take action against them for their comments, the notice said.
The notice termed the remarks of the two ministers as illegal and unconstitutionaland asked them to explain why their March 5 comments about the chief justice and a sub-judice matter should not be declared illegal. Food Minister Quamrul Islam and Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque made the controversial comments at a programme on March 5. Addressing a discussion arranged by the Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee, a platform that seeks trial of war criminals, in Dhaka on Saturday, Quamrul Islam sought a fresh hearing into Quasems appeal petition by a new bench excluding the chief justice.
Quamrul, who was the state minister for law when the war crimes tribunal was formed in 2010, justified his comment by saying that the chief justice had made some observations in open court that raised questions about the prosecutors and investigators role in the trial.
Speaking at the same programme, Mozammel Haque urged the chief justice to ponder whether he should continue in his post. On February 23, Chief Justice SK Sinha had expressed dissatisfaction over the prosecutions and investigators performances in dealing with war crime cases.
We are shocked by the incompetence of the prosecution and investigators in dealing with the war crime cases. A huge amount is being spent, but their responsibilities are not getting reflected in their performance, the chief justice had stated. He had made the remarks after going through the records and documents of the International Crimes Tribunal-2, saying the prosecution could not produce witnesses to support certain charges brought against Jamaat leader and convicted war criminal Mir Quasem Ali.
