Contempt petition filed against Taposh for commenting judiciary
Staff Reporter :
A contempt of court petition has been filed with the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court against Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) Mayor Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh for his derogatory and controversial comment over the judiciary.
On May 21 this year at a program of Bangabandhu Awami Ainjibi Parishad held at the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) auditorium in a speech Taposh said, “Ekjon Chief Justice keo Namiye Diyechhilam (we had even brought down a chief justice)”.
Advocate Shah Amed Badal, a Supreme Court lawyer and also the Member-Secretary of the Adhoc Committee of the SCBA, filed the petition on Sunday. He prayed to the Appellate Division to summon the DSCC Mayor for his derogatory comment over the judiciary.
Earlier on May 24, eminent jurist M Amir-Ul-Islam placed the comment made by Mayor Taposh before the Appellate Division.
Before the court, Amir-Ul-Islam, one of the framers of the Constitution, read out a portion of a report published by the daily Manab Zamin on May 23 in which Taposh was quoted as saying, “We had even brought down a chief justice.”
However, Chief Justice Hasan Foez Siddique did not give any decision immediately after the comment was placed and said, “We will see the matter later on.”
Exiting the courtroom, Amir-Ul-Islam told the reporters at the SC premises, “This is a big degradation. It is unfortunate. We are aggrieved. Not only the judiciary but also the people of the entire country have been hurt by this comment.”
Amir-Ul-Islam said Taposh in his speech also slammed the civil society, and senior lawyers, and undermined the judiciary. “Where did he get this right? His comment is very arrogant and is a contempt of court,” the veteran lawyer said.
Since we didn’t found any decision from the Appellate Division, we filed a contempt of court case against Taposh, said Shah Ahmed Badal.
The Chief Justice has been brought into disrespect, disregard and the majesty and the dignity of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh has been tarnished by the remarks of Taposh, according to the petition.
