Plea seeks bench outside SC for political cases

A Supreme Court lawyer today filed a writ petition with the High Court for constituting a bench somewhere outside the apex court for dealing with the political cases including that involving BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia.

Advocate Eunus Ali Akond submitted the petition seeking its directive on the authorities concerned to take necessary steps to constitute the bench in order to avoid unnecessary “police harassment on the lawyers, their clerks and clients” over their entering the court premises.

In the petition, he said all the gates of the SC remain closed at the time of hearing of any political case and therefore, the lawyers and their clerks and clients of respective cases cannot enter the SC premises and the law enforcers used to “harass” the people unnecessarily violating Article 36 of the constitution.

Hence, the respondents should be directed to constitute a bench for hearing and disposing of the political cases at any other place outside the SC or at such other district under Article 100 of the constitution, Advocate Eunus said in the petition.

Article 100 says, “The permanent seat of the Supreme Court shall be in the capital, but sessions of the High Court Division may be held at such other place or places as the Chief Justice may, with the approval of the President, from time to time appoint”.

The secretaries to the cabinet division, law ministry and the president’s secretariat and the registrar general of the SC have been mentioned as respondents to the rule required in the petition.

The HC is yet to fix any date for hearing the petition, Eunus Ali told The Daily Star.