SC attention drawn to PM, Law Minister`s comments

President of the Supreme Court Bar Association Khandaker Mahbub Hossain on Wednesday brought to the notice of the Supreme Court the comments of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Law Minister Anisul Huq about the judiciary. The SCBA president placed before the apex court two newspaper reports in the morning and sought necessary orders in this regard. The Appellate Division bench, headed by Chief Justice Md Muzammel Hossain, received the reports published in The Daily Star and Bangla Daily Prothom Alo, and advised Mahbub to place the reports before a ‘proper court’. Later, Mahbub along with other SCBA members placed before the High Court bench of Justice Mirza Hussain Haider and Justice Muhammad Khurshid Alam Sarkar the two reports. The SCBA leaders and activists went out of the HC bench as it did not pass any order on the issue. According to the Daily Star report, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at a press conference at Ganobhaban on Saturday referred to the May 11 HC order that asked the authorities to arrest three former Rab-11 officials and said, “When we were still investigating the matter … and before that investigation was complete … you (journalists) tell us how come a High Court bench orders the arrest of the three?” Meanwhile on Monday, Law Minister Anisul Huq at a seminar said the judiciary should not cross its jurisdiction while dealing with public interest litigations (PIL) cautioning that it could lead to ‘judicial anarchy’. –UNB, Dhaka.