Justice Nozrul Islam Chowdhury, a retired judge of the High Court, today withdrew himself as a defence lawyer for war criminal Mir Quasem Ali.

The move came days after Attorney General Mahbubey Alam pointed him out at court and said he was enjoying state facilities after retirement.

Justice Nozrul informed the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court about his withdrawal from the proceedings of the case against Quasem Ali.

Justice Nozrul also claimed that practicing law by him is not against the constitution and ethics. He told reporters his quitting was because of the attorney general questioning his appearance.

Earlier, the attorney general told a court that Justice Nozrul retired as a HC judge a few months ago and was still living in a government residence and using a car and gunman given by the government.

If Justice Nozrul practises (as a lawyer) in the court under the circumstances, it would be against the ethics of the judges, he had said.

In reply, Justice Nozrul, who retired on December 12 last year, said he was aware of his enjoying the state privileges and claimed that he was not misusing the facilities.