Terming the silence of the chief justice 'unfortunate', the SCBA in a resolution of an adjourned general meeting said the chief justice has failed to protect the dignity of the judiciary even after incidents of 'committing arrogant conducts' by the administration towards the court.

The resolution said Mosharraf and Gayeshwar made 'unjust, indecent and contemptuous' statements on the HC judgement at a meeting on the occasion of BNP's 27th founding anniversary on September 1.

"In the meeting Health Minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain commented that the High Court verdict on the fifth amendment is a small part of a large conspiracy," the resolution reads.

"Gayeshwar Chandra Roy termed the verdict a small bomb, the blast of which has embarrassed and panicked the nation," it adds.

The SCBA condemned the health minister and the BNP joint secretary general for making such contemptuous comments. It also slammed the incident of not taking action against anybody for obstructing the court function by the members of intelligence agencies.

The HC bench of Justice ABM Khairul Haque and Justice ATM Fazle Kabir on August 29 declared that the fifth amendment and the takeover of state power by Khandkar Mostaque Ahmed, Justice Abu Sadat Mohammad Sayem and General Ziaur Rahman was illegal, unconstitutional and made without jurisdiction.

Two days after the verdict, members of an intelligence agency entered the courtroom and interfered in court proceedings by insisting on talking with the judges of the bench.

The SCBA on Thursday organised a meeting at South Hall of the SCBA to protest against the intelligence men's activities and Law Minister Moudud Ahmed's 'contemptuous comment' about the HC verdict.

After adjournment on Thursday, the meeting resumed yesterday at the same venue.

Presided over by SCBA President Advocate Mahbubey Alam, the meeting was addressed, among others, by former SCBA presidents advocates Abdul Baset Majumder and Ozair Farooq, Advocate Subrata Chowdhury, SCBA Secretary Advocate M Enayetur Rahim, and advocates Mamtajuddin Mehedi, Shamsul Huda Manik, Shahidul Islam, Abdul Matin Khasru and PC Guha.