The Bangladesh Supreme Court has found two Cabinet Ministers guilty for committing contempt of court over their statements about the Chief Justice.
The full bench of the appellate division, led by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha, on Sunday ordered Food Minister Qamrul Islam and Liberation War Affairs Minister A.K.M. Mozammel Huq to pay a fine of Tk 50,000 each. The apex court said the two Ministers will face imprisonment for seven days if they fail to pay the fine.
This is the first time two Cabinet Ministers have been fined by the country’s top court .
On March 8, a nine-member apex court bench, headed by the Chief Justice, issued the contempt rule against the Ministers and asked them to explain their “derogatory and highly contemptuous statements” and appear before it.
Speaking at a discussion on March 5, the Food Minister had called for a new bench that, in his view, should exclude the chief justice to hear Jamaat-e-Islami leader Mir Quasem Ali’s appeal.
Justice Sinha’s displeasure at the work of the war crimes tribunal's investigators and prosecutors in the war crimes cases, including Mir Quasem’s one, had been seen by the minister as a 'broad hint' that the war criminal’s death penalty might not be upheld.
The Liberation war affairs minister had also criticised the chief justice at the same programme.
The apex court, on March 8, delivered the verdict in the much talked about war crimes case, upholding former Al-Badr leader and Jamaat e Islami's main financier Mir Quasem Ali’s death sentence, for his 1971 war crimes, handed down by the War crimes Tribunal in November 2014.
Before the verdict was pronounced, the appellate division issued an order summoning the two ministers to appear before it on Mar 15. The court said their comments had “undermined the dignity and prestige of the Supreme Court and the office of the chief justice”. The ministers appeared before the court and explained their statements including seeking apology .
Before delivering the verdict on Sunday, Justice Sinha said, “The contempt proceedings against the two ministers were done to send a message.” The two ministers made arrogant comments and scandalised the chief justice and the judiciary, Sinha said, adding that he was doubtful whether they made such comments to influence the judgment on Mir Quasem Ali's appeal.
Media reports earlier said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the Cabinet meeting on March 7 had made it clear that the ministers’ remarks did not represent the views of her government.
Explaining, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam told the media that the Appellate Division’s message was that the judiciary’s dignity cannot be undermined under any circumstances.
Cabinet may decide ministers fate
Attorney General Mahbubey Alam said the cabinet may decide whether the two ministers can hold the office as following today’s Supreme Court judgement.Without making any direct comment, he said it is a question of morality.
However, former law minister and senior supreme court lawyer Shafique Ahmed said that there is no legal bar for the two ministers holding their posts after the Supreme Court verdict. He said the two ministers have not convicted for moral turpitude.
