The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

The election of Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), scheduled for yesterday and today, has finally been deferred by one month in the face of government ban order. Now, the overdue election will be held on April 28 and April 29 next.

The decision was taken at a meeting between the Law Adviser and SCBA leaders, which was followed by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two.

The hour long meeting was held at an undisclosed place in Gulshan in the city. SCBA President Amir-ul-Islam signed the MoU on behalf of the association while Law Adviser AF Hassan Ariff and Attorney General Fida M Kamal on behalf of the government.

After returning of the bar leaders to the court at about 2:00pm, Nizamul Huq Nasim, convener of election sub-committee, announced that they have reached a consensus to defer the polling date to April 28-29 following 'fruitful' discussions with the government ending in an agreement in this regard.

A noisy scene was created centring announcement of election dates. General members of the bar screamed at the announcement with a note of disapproval of the deal protesting which they demanded resignation of SCBA President Amir-ul-Islam and Secretary Advocate AM Amin Uddin.

The hue and cry was so loud that incumbent SCBA president Barrister Amir-ul-Islam had to leave the hall room by making a brief statement on the situation.

In his speech, Barrister Amir-ul-Islam said he was not dealing with political agenda rather he was working with an election agenda.

"We believe in rule of law and we want that the election be held in a peaceful manner," he said.

The SCBA President alleged that a certain quarter was trying to create an anarchic situation so that the election cannot be held.

At once he asked non-members to leave the Bar hall room and requested non candidates to refrain from making statements.

Hundreds of lawyers thronged the polling centres to cast their votes since 10:00am.

The election was scheduled to begin at 10:00am The Bar leaders deferred the time of casting of votes to 11:30am following a meeting in the morning since they went to Gulshan to meet the Law Adviser to resolve the election stalemate through consultation. Later the voting time was deferred for the second time to 2:00pm as the negotiations was delayed.

SCBA President Amir-ul-Islam, Secretary AM Aminuddin, five president candidates, including Khandaker Mahbub Hossain, Barrister Shafique Ahmed, Humayun Hossain Khan and convenor of the election sub-committee left the Supreme Court premises at 9:15am to resolve the election stalemate through consultation with the government.

As the stalemate over the election continued, some agitating general members of the SCBA held an impromptu meeting at the Bar hall room.

They observed that if the election could not be held as per schedule, the incumbent executive committee should be dissolved immediately and an ad-hoc committee formed to run the association until a new elected committee assumes office. The tenure of incumbent committee has expired last year.

Meanwhile, Barrister Shafique Ahmed told reporters, "It is our legal and moral victory following the agreement" as the Bar would not require any permission to hold the election after the agreement.

Khandakar Mahbub Hossain said the misunderstanding between the government and SCBA has been resolved through signing of the agreement.

It may be mentioned that the government on Sunday imposed a ban on the SCBA election, as the association did not seek permission from the authority concerned in line with the state of emergency. But the lawyers and candidates vowed to go ahead with the election as per schedule defying the ban order issued by the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP).