A group of lawyers disrupted a High Court session of Justice Md Ashraful Kamal and his fellow judge Kazi Waliul Islam hurling eggs and shouting at them that compelled them to leave the courtroom on Wednesday.
The protest stemmed from alleged 鈥榠ndecent鈥� remarks Justice Ashraful had made about BNP founder and former president Ziaur Rahman in a previous verdict delivered on May 5, 2016.
Witnesses said the incident unfolded around 2:30pm when several lawyers entered Justice Ashraful Kamal鈥檚 courtroom.
Accusing the judge of making disrespectful comments about Ziaur Rahman, widely regarded by BNP as the proclaimer of Bangladesh鈥檚 independence, the lawyers demanded he vacate his position.
鈥榃e tolerated you for 15 years under Awami League rule, but you have no right to remain as a judge anymore. You must resign,鈥� the lawyers shouted, banging on the courtroom dais.
As the commotion escalated, one lawyer hurled an egg at Justice Ashraful Kamal, but it missed and struck the wall behind the bench.
The judges quietly left the courtroom without responding to the protesters.
The incident happened in the presence of crowded lawyers including deputy attorney general Monjur Alam, three assistant attorneys general, and lawyer Mosharraf Hossain, who were all present but did not intervene.
When contacted, Supreme Court registrar general Aziz Ahmed Bhuiyan said that he was informed of the incident but said no official statement would be issued.
Justice Ashraful Kamal was appointed as an additional judge of the High Court in December 2010 and confirmed in December 2012 during Sheikh Hasina鈥檚 rule.
The protest is apparently linked to a controversial remark in Justice Ashraful鈥檚 opinion as part of a three-judge High Court bench Asaduzzaman vs Bangladesh case in the 2016.
The case dealt with the 16th constitutional amendment, which sought to restore parliament鈥檚 authority to remove Supreme Court judges for 鈥榤isbehaviour or incapacity.鈥�
In his judgment, Justice Ashraful had stated, 鈥楳ajor General Ziaur Rahman was not only a collaborator of the killers of the Father of the Nation and his family but also rewarded them by appointing them as ambassadors and parliamentarians.鈥�
He further said that Ziaur Rahman had 鈥榰nconstitutionally seized the office of president and people鈥檚 institutions at gunpoint.鈥�
Mahbubur Rahman Khan, a pro-BNP lawyer and former vice-president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, on Wednesday criticised Justice Md Ashraful Kamal鈥檚 remarks about BNP founder Ziaur Rahman.
Mahbubur further alleged that a group of lawyers had earlier confined High Court Division registrar Munshi Moshiur Rahman to his office and removed his nameplate.
The registrar was accused of being a behind-the-scenes architect of a botched 鈥榡udicial coup鈥� on August 10 and of maintaining close ties with the 鈥榝ascist government.鈥�
Mahbubur, who also serving as the publicity secretary of the pro-BNP Bangladesh Jatiotabadi Ainjibi Forum, claimed that Moshiur Rahman, during his tenure as a district judge in Narayanganj, coerced lower court judges into visiting Tungipara in Gopalganj 鈥� the birthplace of the county鈥檚 founding president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
