Bar Council Act
Scrapping of changes demanded
Vice Chairman of Bangladesh Bar Council Khandker Mahbub Hossain yesterday demanded immediate cancellation of the amendments to the bar council act, saying the changes stripped the body's power of enrolling law practitioners.
In protest of the amendments, the lawyers will stage demonstrations and hold meetings at all bar councils across the country on November 8, he told a press conference at the bar council.
The government on October 21 issued an ordinance on the Legal Practitioners and Bar Council (Amendment) Act, 2012.
The amendments suggest formation of a five-member enrolment committee with an Appellate Division judge, two High Court judges, attorney general and an elected member of the council. Earlier, a three-member committee of the bar council would take the decision about new enrolment.
Moreover, the bar council now has to have government's approval to frame any rules, and the council's secretary will be appointed by the government.
Khandker Mahbub said the amendments had illegally curtailed the powers of the elected committee of the bar council. If the ordinance is not scrapped, it will in no way bring any good for the government, he said.
The amendments have created a scope for the government to meddle in the functions of the bar council, and there is no such precedent in any country, including India and Pakistan, he said.
Mahbub urged the members of parliament not to endorse the ordinance for passing a bill into law in this regard.
Bar council's executive members AJ Mohammad Ali, Mahbubuddin Khokon, and Sanaullah Miah, among others, spoke on the occasion.
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