HC starts hearing petition against JS Speaker's ruling
A High Court (HC) bench yesterday started hearing on the writ petition, filed on July 18, that challenged the legality of Speaker Abdul Hamid's June 18 ruling.
The Speaker had stated that the HC judge, Justice AHM Shamsuddin Choudhury Manik, violated the constitution by making “derogatory remarks” about parliament and the Speaker.
The HC bench of Justice Hasan Foez Siddique and Justice ABM Altaf Hossain yesterday adjourned the hearing on the writ petition till 10:30am today.
Earlier on July 18, Justice Naima Haider of a two-judge HC bench expressed embarrassment to hear the petition.
The bench, including Justice Muhammad Khurshid Alam Sarkar, also returned the petition to the petitioner, Supreme Court (SC) lawyer AKM Shafiuddin.
Shafiuddin filed the petition praying for an HC rule upon the Speaker and the secretaries to parliament and the law ministry to explain why the June 18 ruling should not be declared illegal.
He prayed to the HC to direct the Speaker not to issue such rulings in the future, saying that the Speaker cannot issue such a ruling against any SC judge as per the parliament's rules of procedure.
The Speaker had abused his constitutional mandate as it does not permit the parliament to challenge any SC proceeding over any sub-judice matter, Shafiuddin cited in the petition.
Justice Manik, during a court hearing on June 5, observed that the Speaker had committed an offence tantamount to sedition by commenting on an HC order in parliament on May 29.
The Speaker said it looked odd when the courts, though neutral and independent, took quick decisions to resolve their own problems while people wait for years to get justice.
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