Chaos in High Court

Journalists and lawyers traded verbal fire and were engaged in a scuffle at the High Court on Wednesday. bdnews24.com correspondent Suliman Niloy reported from the High Court that journalists had an argument with some lawyers over standing in the courtroom before the proceedings of the bench of Justices Naima Haider and Zafar Ahmed started. The lawyers asked the journalists to stay away mistaking them to be clients evoking protests from them. Both the groups tried to shove off each other. Manjurul Ahsan Bulbul, President of a faction of the Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists and Saleh Uddin, President of Law Reporters’ Forum and other senior journalists tried to calm down the situation but the chaos continued. At one point the judges left the court.Later, the police rushed to the spot and drove the journalists away before shutting down the court room. The lawyers stayed outside the courtroom but continued to trade angry words with reporters. Reporters gathered at the High Court on Wednesday morning to cover a hearing.The HC bench had summoned Prothom Alo Joint Editor Mizanur Rahman Khan over two published articles written by him.During the hearing over the contempt rule last week, lawyer Rokon Uddin Mahmud made remarks about the media and journalism profession. Four journalist bodies, the Dhaka Reporters’ Unity (DRU), Dhaka University Journalists’ Association (DUJA), Jagannath University Journalists’ Association (JnUJA) and Barisal Division Journalists’ Association (BDJA) issued separate statements on Saturday demanding expunging Mahmud’s statement, which had been published in the Bengali dailies, ‘Doinik Samakal’ and ‘Naya Diganta’. The next day, a contempt rule was issued against the editors, publisher and printers of the newspapers when Mahmud drew the attention of the HC towards the news. “We had issued a warning on Thursday. We had verbally forbidden publication of the statements, but it was not adhered to. That’s why, we are issuing a contempt rule,” said the HC. It also sought explanations from DRU President Shahed Chowdhury and General Secretary Ilias Khan, DUJA President MM Jasim and SecretarySaddam Hossain, JnUJA President Kazi Mobarak Hossain and Secretary M Sujaul Hossain and BDJA President Abdur Rahman and General Secretary Ilias Khan and asked them appear before the bench on Wednesday.- bdnews24.com