Supreme Court lawyers on Monday protested against a move by 30 political parties to decentralise the High Court by establishing benches in divisional towns, warning that such a step threatens the unitary structure of the judiciary and violates the constitution.
The protest, held in front of the Supreme Court Bar Association building, was led by the association鈥檚 acting secretary, Mahfuzur Rahman Milon, under the banner of general lawyers, most of whom are reportedly aligned with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party.
Addressing the rally, Mahfuzur Rahman said that decentralising High Court benches would weaken the judiciary and directly contravene Article 100 of the constitution, which mandates that the permanent seat of the Supreme Court shall be in the capital.
He also cited the landmark Eighth Amendment case verdict, in which the Appellate Division struck down an attempt by former president HM Ershad鈥檚 regime to decentralise the High Court as unconstitutional.
鈥楾he interim government must immediately backtrack on this unconstitutional initiative,鈥� Mahfuz said, warning of a 鈥榯ougher movement鈥� if the plan proceeds.
The controversial proposal to decentralise the High Court emerged from a July 3 meeting between political parties and the National Consensus Commission, where parties argued it would ease the backlog of cases and reduce the suffering of justice seekers outside Dhaka.
The commission is expected to include the proposal in a forthcoming 鈥楯uly Charter鈥� to be submitted to the interim government for implementation.
