Moreover, it is debatable whether the rules and tradition of the Supreme Court permits the use of such language as he did many a time. In fact a lawyer practicing at the Supreme Court, Advocate Mozammel Huq, has submitted a petition to the President of Bangladesh for the trial of Justice Shamsuddin Choudhury at the Supreme Judicial Council on the charge of abusing him in his court room in very offensive language. The lawyer has written to President Zillur Rahman that Justice Shamsuddin Choudhury had compared him to a monkey. Advocate Mozammel Huq has further complained that he felt gravely insulted and much humiliated by this judge. Advocate Huq said in his petition that it appeared to him that Justice Shamsuddin Choudhury has lost his mental balance. It is a serious charge.

 

In the mean time, front row treasury bench members of parliament have proposed two days in a row that a resolution from the Jatiya Sangsad be sent to the country’s President requesting him to institute a Supreme Judicial Council to impeach Justice Shamsuddin Choudhury. Speaker of the parliament Advocate Abdul Hamid will give his decision shortly in this regard. The controversial judge, it may be noted, had declared in his court room that the Speaker had committed sedition by stating in parliament that if citizens get angry then they can rise to block even decisions of courts and therefore use of prudence was necessary. He had also said that none should get an inflated sense of importance and power because of his position. His comments came in the wake of angry complaints by some members relating to an over by Justice Shamsuddin Chowdhury for the removal of the head offices of the Roads and Highways Department from the land of the Supreme Court. However, the Speaker was right in sounding the cautionary note. After all courts cannot battle mass upsurges. It may be recalled the dropping of charges against Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and others in the so called Agartala Conspiracy in 1969 was the result of a huge protest by Bengalees. That movement taken to a peak by Maulana Bhasani after the killing of Sgt. Zahurul Huq in the Dhaka Cantonment by Pakistani soldiers forced the trial of the case to a halt. Thus it is good to remember that there are domains where the writ of the courts do not run, neither do executive orders of the government can be given effect to, nor resolutions of the parliament can be implemented.

 

The sad thing about this controversy involving a High Court judge and the parliament is that neither the issue involved is profound nor is it of any real worth to the public. Basically, the unsavoury drama stems from unhealthy partisanship. The courtroom of Justice Shamsuddin Choudhury had witnessed unhappy scenes when he had rebuked leader of the opposition Begum Khaleda Zia in her absence and without giving her a chance to defend herself. He has been known to be a devout follower of Awami League.

 

This ongoing quarrel and several others erupting recently demonstrate that clashes of interest and personalities are taking place in the ruling circles defying Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s iron fist over them. These are also signs of the chaos which the present government has created in the country. (Ataus Samad)