CJ leaves courtroom after heated exchange with SCBA president

A heated exchange took place between Chief Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury and Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Barrister AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon during a hearing at the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

The chief justice and four other judges of the Appellate Division left the courtroom following the exchange.

The exchange followed a remark by Khokon about declining incomes of lawyers. During the hearing, he told the chief justice that lawyers’ incomes had declined since Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury became chief justice while seeking leniency for a junior lawyer who had been fined Tk5 lakh.

The remark prompted a response from the chief justice, leading to a heated exchange between the two. At one stage, the chief justice and four other judges left the courtroom.

Later, Khokon told reporters on the Supreme Court premises that he had respectfully told the chief justice that cases could not be heard as before since his appointment and that, as a result, lawyers’ incomes had declined.

“Imposing Tk5 lakh in costs on a junior lawyer is too much. I requested that the lawyer be forgiven,” he said.

According to Khokon, the chief justice questioned whether lawyers’ incomes had actually declined since his appointment.

Khokon then explained that the Appellate Division previously had three benches comprising 11 judges, allowing cases to be heard more frequently. Now, with a single bench, lawyers often face lengthy delays in getting cases heard, he said.

He also said interim orders issued by chamber judges staying proceedings could result in cases remaining pending for a year or more, causing hardship for both litigants and lawyers.

Asked what happened in the Appellate Division and why the chief justice left the courtroom, Attorney General Barrister Md Ruhul Quddus Kazal told reporters that Khokon had referred to the court’s decision to fine a lawyer.

The chief justice then said, “Look, we have passed an order after considering everything. We will not change our order.”

Kazal said the lawyer had committed fraud on the court and flouted an earlier order of the Appellate Division. In that situation, the chief justice told Khokon not to make such remarks.

Khokon then unexpectedly told the chief justice that lawyers’ incomes had declined since his appointment.

The chief justice initially took the remark lightly and asked, “Do you mean that?”

According to Kazal, Khokon continued to make similar remarks.

The chief justice then told him, “What you have said amounts to absolute contempt of court. Since you have made such a serious statement, I will no longer participate in today’s proceedings.”

The chief justice then left the courtroom, Kazal said.

The Appellate Division had imposed Tk5 lakh each on writ petitioner Md Nur Alam and his lawyer Sufia Ahmed, totalling Tk10 lakh, for allegedly concealing information and filing multiple writ petitions over the same issue concerning the appointment of Nikah registrars.