Supreme Court lawyers loyal to both ruling and opposition parties yesterday unanimously decided not to hold any rally on the court premises to avert any untoward incident and to protect its sanctity and image.
They came up with the decision at a meeting with Chief Justice Md Muzammel Hossain at his SC office in the afternoon, SC Registrar AKMShamsul Islam toldTheDailyStar.
The chief justice and other judges of the apex court expressed concern over entrance of outsiders into the court premises and attack on some lawyers on December 29, when they were staging demonstration at the SC's main gate in support of BNP's "march for democracy", he said.
Meanwhile, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) of Chittagong Md Moshiur Rahman
Chowdhury was forced to leave his courtroom yesterday, halting the judicial activities in the face of obstruction from pro-BNP and Jamaat-e-lslami lawyers when they were observing work stoppage protestingthe attack on lawyers on the SC premises.
The CMM left the courtroom after the agitating lawyers brought out a procession in the Chittagong court building and asked the magistrate to leave around 11:30am.
Later, judges of eight other courts also stopped their judicial activities, said Md Rezaul Masud, additional deputy commissioner (prosecution) of police in Chittagong city.
Following the incident, pro-Awami League lawyers brought out a procession and headed to the CMM's courtroom creating tension in the area. Police rushed in and dispersed the two groups of lawyers. Two additional platoons of police were also deployed there, said Rezaul Masud.
Yesterday, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam, who attended the meeting with the chief justice, told The Daily Star that the chief justice had invited them to meet him to draw their attention about the events ofDecember29.
He said all the judges and lawyers opined that the incidents were very unexpected and unwarranted.
The lawyers told the chief justice that they would now organise meetings and other programmes on the SCBA premises or in its auditorium, he said, adding that they could hold meetings outside the court premises.
SC judges Justice SK Sinha, Justice Md Abdul Wahhab Miah, Justice
Nazmun Ara Sultana, Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain, Justice Md Imman Ali, and Justice Hasan Foez Siddique, former attorney general AF Hasan Ariff, Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President AJ Mohammad Ali, its former presidents Abdul Baset Majumder, Habibul Islam Bhuiyan and AFM Mesbahuddin, senior lawyers Yusuf Hossain Humayun and Anisul Huq, SCBA's acting secretary ABM Rafiqul Haque Talukder Raja, its former secretaries Bashir Ahmed, AM Aminuddin, SM Rezaul Karim and Badruddoza Badal also attended the meeting.
Earlier in the day, pro-AL and BNP lawyers brought out separate processions and organised separate meetings on the SCBA pre-mises protesting the December 29 incidents.
The SCBA president at a meeting at its south hall
announced that the SCBA would observe a hunger strike at 10:00am tomorrow on its premises demanding punishment for the attackers of the lawyers.
Former SCBA secretary Badruddoza Badal told The Daily Star that the lawyers yesterday observed work stoppage at different courts in different districts including Chittagong, Noakhali and Laxmipur protesting the attack on the opposition lawyers.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh Awami Ainjibi Parishad, a forum of pro-AL lawyers, rallied on the SCBA premises yesterday protesting the opposition's blockades, arsons, and anarchy at SC.
They said BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia had to apologise to the nation for her "derogatory" comments about Gopalganj, the birthplace of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.