Crisis in SCBA may worsen
25 March 2023
Gulam Rabbani :
Crisis that has been created in the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) recently centering its annual election may worsen as a fraction of the Supreme Court lawyers decided to form an interim committee to run the organisation instead of the committee formed through the controversial election.
As per the announcement of the lawyers, the 14-member interim committee will be formed before April 1, and then it will lead the organisation. If this announcement is implemented then the Supreme Court Bar Association will apparently have two committees as another committee was formed through an election procedure.
Although different professional bodies in the country have multiple committees due to political differences and other
conflicts of interest, this has never been seen in the Supreme Court Bar Association. However, the most influential body of the lawyers is walking on the path of division.
Senior Advocate Khurshid Alam Khan said, "An election to the Supreme Court Bar has already been held, albeit controversially. Now one camp of the lawyers is talking about forming an interim committee to run the SCBA. It has no legality in the Constitution of the Supreme Court Bar.
Lawyers at the Supreme Court Bar have long been politically divided, which we see reflected in every committee. A bar free of political influences is needed for a proper working environment here."
Lawyers of BNP supported forum and some other fractions of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) on March 22 decided to form an interim committee to run the organisation instead of the committee formed recently through a one-sided election.
The 14-member interim committee will be formed before April 1 this year, said a press note issued after a view exchange meeting on Wednesday over the new crisis erupted recently centering the SCBA election.
Gias Uddin Ahmed, a former Secretary of the SCBA, issued the press note on behalf of the meeting participants also saying that the interim committee will hold a fair election within three months after preparing a new voter-list as per the Constitution of the organisation.
As per the decisions of the view exchange meetings, the interim committee will also run the routine functions of the SCBA for three months.
Former leaders of the bar will write letter to the banks concerned to stop the transactions of the accounts of the SCBA till the formation of the interim committee. The senior most three members of the interim committee will operate the bank accounts for three months since its formation.
The lawyers also decided that no election for the SCBA was held on March 15 and 16 and the attempts those were taken for an election by the ruling party backed lawyers failed. And the lawyers decided to observe March 15 and 16 as the 'black day' in the history of the Supreme Court as the voting rights of the lawyers were snatched.
Earlier, the most controversial election in the history of the Supreme Court Bar Association ended on March 16 with huge violence. A panel of pro-Awami League lawyers' white panel secured an absolute win in the election.
Not only pro-BNP lawyers, non-partisan common lawyers were also not seen to cast vote in the election held in two day elections. However, the election conducting committee announced that 4137 votes were cast in two days.
Pro-BNP lawyers alleged that pro-government lawyers sealed the ballots as their will as the common lawyers were largely absent from the election.
