Business first

Most lawyers of the Supreme Court Bar Association, dominated by pro-BNP and -Jamaat advocates, are ignoring the association decision to stay away from courts during hartals and are going about their business as usual.

Just like people in the capital and elsewhere, who have been ignoring the strikes, most of the pro-BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami lawyers are appearing before benches and representing their clients, lawyers requesting anonymity said.

Only a handful of top lawyer leaders, particularly the ones running in the upcoming SCBA elections, were not showing up at courts. But they were moving political cases before the Supreme Court.

Citing "security concerns" during hartals, the SCBA at a general meeting on February 8 decided that SC lawyers would abstain from court proceedings. The SCBA leaders had even requested judges to refrain from discharging their judicial functions during hartals, sources claimed.

Unwilling to withdraw the SCBA decision, even though lawyers keep ignoring it, the association is now considering its own instruction to lawyers to be discretionary.

SCBA President and BNP chairperson's adviser Khandker Mahbub Hossain told The Daily Star that they were considering the lawyers' abstention as "casual and optional".

The lawyers have to appear before court to place arguments on behalf of political leaders, he said.

"We have reached an understanding with the chief justice that the case of a lawyer will not be dismissed, if he or she cannot attend court due to hartal," the SCBA president said.

Mahbub said they would not withdraw the SCBA's February 8 decision as they were seeing it as not obligatory.

 He said if any lawyer wanted to attend court, he or she could do so, and if any lawyer did not wish to attend court, he or she could refrain from attending court proceedings.

Attorney General Mahbubey Alam told The Daily Star that the SCBA leaders had decided to refrain from attending the court due to political reasons.

They made the decision to obstruct proceedings of cases against BNP leaders, including its chief Khaleda Zia, and the war crimes cases against Jamaat-e-Islami leaders, he claimed.

The top law officer of the country said the lawyers, including those of BNP and Jamaat disposition, were showing up before courts as no lawyer was obligated to comply with the SCBA decision.

Top SCBA leaders were moving political cases.

On March 5, former SCBA president and BNP chairperson's adviser Zainul Abedin appeared before the HC and represented BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia in two of her petitions expressing no-confidence in the judge of a lower court dealing with the Zia Orphanage and Zia Charitable Trust graft cases.

A group of pro-BNP lawyers, including former SCBA president AJ Mohammad Ali and incumbent SCBA Secretary AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon, were present in the courtroom that day, Additional Attorney General Momtaz Uddin Fakir told The Daily Star.

He said former SCBA president Habibul Islam Bhuiyan and a few other pro-BNP lawyers appeared before the SC chamber judge on March 5 on behalf of Zainul Abedin in connection with a case. 

On March 1, Mahbub Uddin Khokon and former SCBA secretary and pro-BNP lawyer Bodruddoza Badal on March 2 had appeared before the High Court for moving Khaleda's no-confidence petitions.