The Supreme Court yesterday released the full judgement in a contempt of court case against Food Minister Qamrul Islam and Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Huq, saying that the two had breached their oath of office to preserve, protect and defend the constitution by questioning the authority of the judiciary. “We have come to a clear finding that the respondents before us have acted in violation of law, which is a violation of the constitution and they are consequently in breach of their oath of office to preserve, protect and defend the constitution,” said majority of an eight-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha.
The bench, however, said, “What will be the consequence of breaching the oath of office is not for this court to decide.” Four judges-- Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha, Justice Md Abdul Wahhab Miah, Justice Nazmun Ara Sultana and Justice Mirza Hussain Haider-- agreed with the verdict written by Justice Muhammad Imman Ali.
According to the majority verdict, “The respondents neglected their sworn duty to protect the rule of law enshrined in the constitution. We are in no doubt that the respondents have intentionally made the utterances as reported and have indeed expressly admitted their guilt.” In their exuberance, they have undermined the sanctity of the institution of the judiciary by questioning the justice delivery system, the verdict added. “The respondents have scandalised the Supreme Court in a highly motivated manner in order to influence the judgement of the Court. This is gross criminal contempt and a violation of the provisions of the constitution. The contemnors deserve no sympathy other than the lenient view taken in awarding sentence which has already been expressed in the short order passed by this Court on 27th March, 2016,” verdict copy said.
“We are unable to accept the unconditional apology offered by the contemnors taking into consideration that the contemnors are sitting cabinet ministers holding constitutional posts. They are oath bound to preserve and protect the constitution. The impugned statements/ comments/remarks made by them apparently show that they made those comments intentionally with the object of maligning and undermining the office of the chief justice and the highest court of the country,” the verdict read.
“Their statements are so derogatory and contemptuous that if they are let off, any person will be emboldened to make similar
statements/remarks/comments interfering
with the administration of justice and also undermining the authority of this court in the estimation of the people in general. The prayer for unconditional apology is, therefore, refused. The contemnors are found guilty of gross contempt of this court,” it noted.
“As we have noted earlier, there is no wrong in critiquing a judgement once it is finally published. However, it must be borne in mind that deliberations during the course of any hearing may not be subjected to analysis or criticism since such comments in a sub judice matter might be prejudicial and taint the mind of the public before the judgement is pronounced,” the court added. On the other hand, three judges gave different views on the issue. Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain and Justice Nizamul Huq agreed with the verdict Justice Hasan Foez Siddique wrote on the issue.
The verdict copy written by Justice Hasan Foez Siddique said, “No question of disagreement with my learned brother as to the findings of guilt of the contemners and sentence awarded. But I am unable to agree with the portion that the contemners are in breach of their oath of office to preserve, protect and defend the constitution.” The verdict said, “We have convicted and sentenced  the  contemners  to  set  an  example  and  to  give caution  to  all that  it  has  became  a fashion  to  criticise  the judges  for  no  fault  of  them.    But, the observation as to breach of oath of office is not in consonance with the notice issued upon the contemners.  As such I cannot agree with that observation.”  
On March 27, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court convicted both the ministers and fined them Tk 50,000 each for committing contempt of court by making contemptuous and derogatory comments about the chief justice. The apex court on that day ordered them to pay the money to Islamia Eye Hospital and National Liver Foundation of Bangladesh within seven days. In case of failure, they will have to serve seven days in jail.  This is the first time that the SC had sentenced two sitting ministers for contempt.