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Fifth Amendment Illegal

SC stays verdict for 2 more months

Staff Correspondent
The Supreme Court (SC) yesterday extended for two months more the stay on Monday's historic High Court (HC) verdict that declared the fifth amendment to the constitution illegal as the rules from August 15, 1975 to April 9,1979wereunlawful.
Headed by Chief Justice Syed JR Mudassir Husain, the full bench of SC Appellate Division passed the
order in a crowded courtroom after hearing both the sides.
The Appellate Division also directed the government to file a regular appeal petition.
After Monday's HC verdict, at midnight the Attorney General (AG) AJ Mohammad Ali went to the residence of Chamber Judge of the Appellate Division Amirul Kabir Chowdhury, who stayed the judgementtill yesterday.
The verdict came in response to a petition that claimed the ownership of the property of Moon Cinema Hall at Waizghat in Dhaka which was abandoned by the martial law. The government in 1972 also handed it over to the Muktijoddha Kalyan Trust.
As hearing on the government's appeal to stay the HC verdict began vesterdav mornina. AG Mohammad Ali sought the court's permission to deliver his submission since he had earlier moved for the owner of the cinema hall in 1994.
According to Bangladesh Legal Practitioners and Bar Council Order and Rules, 1972, an advocate cannot move against a client if he had earlier moved for him in the same matter.
"I moved in the High Court and Supreme Court earlier as counsel for owner of Moon Cinema Hall. So, I did not attend the court during the hearing of this case in the High Court [on Monday]," Mohammad Ali told the court.
But, since it is now a matter regarding the constitution, he, being the chief law officer of the state, felt to present his submission on it.
The court permitted him.
On his hasty move to have a stay on Monday's judgement, Mohammad Ali said, "The High Court verdict has unsettled the settled matters. In this context, I met the chamber judge as a stay is very urgent. It was night by the time necessary papers for the petition were prepared."
Quoting a verdict delivered by Justice Shahabuddin Ahmed regarding the eighth amendment of the constitution, the AG said there is no scope of controversy on what people accept and what is considered a part of the constitution. "But the High Court has gone beyond its jurisdiction and opposed the Supreme Court verdict [the one delivered by Justice Shahabuddin] by declaring the constitution's fifth amendment illegal."
Opposing the stay prayer, counsel for Moon Cinema Hall Barrister Azmalul Hossain said the High Court in its judgment had not passed any order or direction to the government and that is why there is nothing to hurriedly pass any stay order.
"It is not so urgent a matter that it needed to call the justice while he was sleeping and get the stay in the dead of the night. The government staged a drama centring a small cinema hall," he said.
"The High Court has condoned some aspects of the fifth amendment to the constitution. So, there is no scope of saying that it will create chaos, as the government is saying," he said.
Azmalul, meantime, informed the court that his client opposed AJ Mohammad Ali's moving in the court against him as he had moved for him earlier.
Moving for the Muktijoddha Kalyan Trust, Advocate Khondker Mahbubuddin Ahmed said, "It is very urgent to stay the High Court order because if the property [of Moon Cinema Hall] gets out of the Trust's possession, it will face financial loss."
After hearing both the sides for about 45 minutes, the court was adjourned for five minutes and resuming later passed the two-month stay order.
Meanwhile, the autumn vacation at the Supreme Court begins Saturday. As the courts do not work on Thursday and Friday for weekly holidays, the vacation apparently starts from today.