Law minister believes CJ would make observations

Against the backdrop of the apex court's dissatisfaction with the way the prosecution and the investigation agency of the ICT are handling the war crimes cases, Law Minister Anisul Huq yesterday said he believed that the chief justice would give observations about the matter in an upcoming verdict.

"Whatever the chief justice has said is discernible. I learned about it [the issue] from the reports appearing in the media. The thing for me to do now is to know why the honorable chief justice has said that," he said.

The minister was talking to reporters after a seminar on arbitration organised at Motijheel in the capital.

"I believe he [CJ] will for sure point this out in the upcoming verdict, and if he doesn't do that, I will take his advice for sure about what he tried to say and why.

“After properly learning about the matter, I will act to find a remedy," he said.

Declining to answer a question on the lack of data produced by the prosecution in the trial of Jamaat leader Mir Quasem Ali, the law minister said he would not comment on a sub-judice matter.

On February 23, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court came down hard on the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) prosecution and the investigation agency for their "poor performance" in dealing with the war crimes cases.

Earlier, the apex court in its observation in the verdict on the appeal of Jamaat chief Delwar Hossain Sayedee blamed the prosecution and the investigation agency for "incompetency".