Court dispute over lawyers’ earnings
A heated exchange between Chief Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury and Supreme Court Bar Association President Mahbub Uddin Khokon over lawyers’ declining incomes prompted the chief justice and other Appellate Division judges to leave the bench on Monday, Attorney General Barrister Ruhul Quddus Kazal said.
According to Kazal, Khokon went to the Appellate Division at around 12:30pm and asked the court to reconsider a Tk5 lakh fine imposed on a lawyer.
The chief justice told him the court had considered all aspects of the case before issuing the order and that there was no scope to alter it, the attorney general said.
The chief justice also told Khokon that the lawyer had concealed information, misled the court and violated an earlier order of the Appellate Division, according to Kazal.
During the exchange, Khokon unexpectedly told the chief justice that lawyers’ incomes had declined since he took over as chief justice.
The chief justice initially appeared to take the comment lightly and asked Khokon whether he meant what he had said.
When Khokon repeated the allegation, the chief justice described it as “absolute contempt of court”, Kazal said.
The chief justice then said that, given the seriousness of the remark, he would not take part in the proceedings for the remainder of the day and left the bench.
The other Appellate Division judges also left, the attorney general added.
Khokon explains his position
Speaking to reporters after the incident, Khokon said he had respectfully asked the chief justice to reconsider the Tk5 lakh fine imposed on a junior lawyer.
He said lawyers were facing financial difficulties because cases were no longer being heard at the pace seen previously, resulting in a decline in their incomes.
“There were previously 11 judges and three benches in the Appellate Division, whereas there is now only one bench,” Khokon said.
He also said stays and orders issued by chamber judges could delay the hearing of cases for up to a year, creating difficulties for both lawyers and litigants.
“I did not expect the chief justice to react so strongly,” Khokon said, adding that, as the elected representative of the lawyers, he had a responsibility to raise their concerns.
Case behind the dispute
The exchange occurred during the hearing of several writ petitions concerning the appointment of a nikah registrar.
The court fined writ petitioner Md Nur Alam and his lawyer Sufia Ahmed Tk5 lakh each for allegedly concealing information and misleading the court. The combined Tk10 lakh fine is to be deposited with Dhaka Shishu Hospital within 30 days.
Khokon, who was also a senior lawyer for Nur Alam, was not present when the court imposed the fines on Nur Alam and Sufia Ahmed.
Another nikah registrar, Mizanur Rahman Murad, was represented by senior lawyers Anik R Haque and Mohammad Shishir Manir, as well as lawyer Amit Das Gupta.
