New Age | Magistrates left the courtroom due to a dispute with lawyers

The Chattogram Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday stayed the proceedings following a heated argument between the judge and the plaintiff’s lawyer during a hearing in a case related to violence during student anti-discrimination protests.

The encounter took place around 12:30 pm at Chattogram Metropolitan Magistrate Oli Ullah’s court, Chattogram Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner AAM Humayun Kabir said.

Humayun Kabir said, “A dispute arose between the magistrate and the general secretary of the Bar Association over filing a case. After the incident, the judges of the ShM courts left their courtrooms.”

Chattogram court officials said Judge Oli Ullah immediately informed the capital’s chief judge about the altercation and left the courtroom.

Later, all 10 judges under the jurisdiction of the ShM left the courtroom, expressing their solidarity with Olya Ulla, they added.

The plaintiff’s lawyer Ashraf Hossain Chowdhury Razzak said the dispute began when they approached the court on behalf of Shoeb Imran, who was injured in an incident at Muradpur in Chattogram on July 17.

“The plaintiff still has bullet wounds on his back. I have requested the court to register the case as a first information report of the police station. According to the procedure, the plaintiff took an oath and named 12-14 people as accused. However, the judge asked the plaintiff to name all the accused,” Ashraf said.

District Attorney Ashraf also said, “I noted that it will take time to identify all the accused as they have been identified after viewing the video footage. It is unrealistic to expect a plaintiff to remember every name immediately. When I repeated the request, the judge told me to let him (the judge) do his job.”

The judge then ordered the police bureau of investigation to investigate the case, Ashraf said, adding: “I accepted his decision.”

The judge then asked Ashraf not to try to put pressure on his trial, Ashraf said, adding: “Then I replied that I did not put pressure.”

After this conversation, Judge Oli Ulla left the courtroom and went to the ShM office. In response, all judges under the jurisdiction of the CM also left their courts.

Meanwhile, lawyers of BNP and Jamaat supporters gathered on the second floor of the court building in front of the Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court and began chanting slogans demanding justice.

Later, around 2 p.m., the protesting lawyers met with Chief Metropolitan Judge Rabiul Alam in his private chambers to discuss the situation.

Earlier, the Chattogram District Bar Association held elections in February in which the pro-BNP Oikya Parishad group of lawyers won 13 posts, including president and general secretary.

After the mass uprising of students on August 5, 346 new prosecutors were appointed on October 17, replacing the previous prosecutors and the Chattogram court prosecutors.

In this reshuffle, Mr. Ashraf Hossain Chowdhury Razzak, General Secretary of the Bar Association, was appointed as the District PP.