Many law officers of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s government are not turning up in the Supreme Court amid public wrath after some of the law officers faced assault and humiliation and also allegations that they interfered in the judiciary to prosecute cases against critics of the Awami League government and leaders of opposition political parties.
A total of 93 Awami League government’s law officers—23 deputy attorneys general and 70 assistant attorneys general—still remain in office although 95 others submitted resignations to the president after Sheikh Hasina had fallen from power and fled to India on August 5 in the wake of a student-led mass uprising.
The law officers, when asked by the attorney general to come to office, expressed their inability to do office as their on-duty colleagues faced humiliation from the pro-Bangladesh Nationalist Party lawyers in the past week, attorney general Md Asaduzzaman’s personal secretary Nurul Huda told ¶¶Òõ¾«Æ·.
Nurul Huda said that he conveyed the attorney general’s message to the law officers that they would conduct cases for the state unless they tendered resignation or sacked by the interim government led by Professor Muhammad Yunus.Â
The attorney general’s instruction came after chief justice Syed Refaat Ahmed formed 50 High Court benches to operate courts full-fledged from today, 12 days after fall of the Hasina government.    Â
President Mohammed Shahabuddin, meanwhile, under the interim government appointed the new attorney general on August 8, and nine deputy attorneys general and three additional attorneys general on August 13 to conduct cases in the Supreme Court.
The immediate past Awami League government appointed over 200 deputy attorneys general and assistant attorneys general.
Besides, there were panel lawyers from the Anti-Corruption Commission and different other government institutions.    Â
Anti-Corruption Commission lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan told ¶¶Òõ¾«Æ· that he was not going to the court to avoid humiliation from pro-BNP lawyers.
Khurshid said that his juniors would conduct the anti-corruption cases on his behalf.
‘The ACC can cancel the appointments of its panel lawyers if it doesn’t want to continue with our appointments,’ he said.
Contacted, Supreme Court Bar Association president Mahbub Uddin Khokon, who is also a BNP leader, said told ¶¶Òõ¾«Æ· that there were many reasons for the Awami government law officers and anti-corruption commission lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan to face public wrath as they nakedly interfered in the Supreme Court’s affairs while conducting the cases against BNP and other opposition leaders.
Khokon urged the interim government to appoint skilled and qualified lawyers as law officers immediately cancelling the appointment of law officers appointed by the Awami League government on political consideration.