The High Court today adjourned till October 14 the hearing on a writ petition by former speaker Jamiruddin Sircar challenging the legality of formation of a parliamentary subcommittee to investigate corruption allegations against him.

The HC bench of Justice Tarik ul Hakim and Justice Borhan Uddin also appointed two amici curiae for their expert opinions on the legality of formation of the committee. The new amici curiae are barrister Ajmalul Hossain and Advocate ASM Mesbauddin. Earlier, the bench appointed five amici curiae barrister Rafique-Ul Huq, Dr M Zahir, Advocate Mahmudul Islam, Advocate AF Hassan Ariff and Advocate Abdul Wadud Bhuiyan for their expert opinions in this regard.

Barrister Rafique-Ul Huq and Advocate AF Hassan Ariff has recently informed the HC that they would not place their opinion as amici curiae as they are involved with the petitioner. Two amici curiae Advocate Mahmudul Islam and Dr Zahir could not appear the court today as they are now abroad. Abdul Wadud Bhuiyan could not be present at the court as he is sick.

Earlier on August 17, Sircar filed the writ petition with the HC challenging the formation of the subcommittee. The BNP leader in his petition also prayed to the court to stay the proceedings and recommendations made by the parliamentary subcommittee against him. The recommendations include cancellation of the House membership of Jamiruddin and legal actions against him on graft charges.

Sircar in his petition stated that the committee was not formed following the due process of the law, as no member of the House proposed forming such committee. The speaker has illegally approved the formation of this committee, which has no right to investigate allegations against him, the petition said. Jatiya Sangsad Speaker Abdul Hamid, Fazle Rabbi Mia, chief of the parliamentary probe body and 13 others were made respondents in the writ petition.

The parliamentary subcommittee was formed on March 19 this year to conduct an enquiry into the alleged corruption in the parliament secretariat in the last seven years till Abdul Hamid assumed the office as speaker. The committee on July 5 this year recommended that the House should cancel the membership of Jamiruddin and charge him with contempt of parliament for not appearing before the parliamentary committee. The committee also recommended that the House ask him to refund the medical expenses of Tk 27.86 lakh and cancel appointments of third and fourth-class employees during his tenure.

-Daily Star

HC defers Sircar petition

bdnews: The High Court has deferred proceedings of a petition by former speaker Jamiruddin Sircar challenging the formation of a parliamentary committee to probe graft allegations. A special High Court bench of justices Tariq Ul Hakim and Borhan Uddin set Oct 14 for a hearing, as previously appointed amicus curiae could not appear in court on Wednesday.

The court also appointed another two lawyers, Ajmalul Hossain QC and Supreme Court Bar Association president AFM Mesbahuddin, as amicus curiae, or advisers to the court for resolving the petition. The court had earlier appointed five advisers for the petition. Of them, former attorney general Mahmudul Islam and Dr M Zahir could not appear as they are overseas, while barrister Rafique Ul Haque and AF Hassan Ariff declined the appointment as they have ties to the petitioner.

The fifth, advocate Abdul Wadud Bhuiyan, was unable to appear in court Wednesday due to illness. Speaker Abdul Hamid on March 22 constituted an 11-member all-party parliamentary probe committee, headed by Fazle Rabbi Miah MP, to investigate allegations against Sircar of misconduct during his term as speaker.

The committee after investigation reported that the allegations, including misappropriation of parliamentary funds, were substantiated, and on July 5 recommended cancelling his parliamentary seat and taking legal measures. Jamiruddin Sircar filed the petition on August 16 with the High Court challenging the formation of the committee, its proceedings and recommendations.

Sircar petition hearing deferred as two amici curiae feel embarrassed

The Indepedent: The High Court yesterday deferred till October 14 the hearing on a writ petition filed by former speaker Jamiruddin Sircar challenging the legality of formation of a parliamentary committee to investigate into corruption allegations against him. The HC bench comprising Justice Tarik-ul Hakim and Justice Borhan Uddin appointed two new amici curiae for their expert opinions on the legality of formation of a parliamentary committee against the BNP leader, as the two earlier appointed amici curiae declined to give their experts in this regard. It was learnt that they felt embarrassed and refused to give expert opinions on the writ petition citing their affiliation with the petitioner.

The two new amici curiae are Barrister Ajmalul Hossain QC and incumbent president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, Advocate AFM Mesbauddin while the amici curiae who opted out are--Barrister Rafique-ul Huq and ex-attorney general, Advocate AF Hassan Ariff. Earlier, on September 3 last, the HC bench appointed five amici curiae Barrister Rafique-Ul Huq, Dr M Zahir, Advocate Mahmudul Islam, Advocate AF Hassan Ariff and Advocate Abdul Wadud Bhuiyan for their expert opinions in this regard.

During the yesterday's hearing the two amici curiae Advocate Mahmudul Islam and Dr Zahir could not appear before the court as they are now staying abroad while another amicus curriae Advocate Abdul Wadud Bhuiyan did not appear before the court due to his illness. Earlier, on August 16 last, former speaker Barrister Jamiruddin Sircar filed a writ petition with the court challenging the formation of a parliamentary committee to investigate into corruption allegations against him. In the petition, the BNP leader prayed for staying the proceedings of the parliamentary committee against him and issued a rule against parliamentary committee as to why the action of parliamentary committee against the petitioner should not be declared illegal and without lawful authority.

The speaker has illegally approved the formation of this committee, which has no right to investigate into allegations against him, the petition said. A total of 15 people including Speaker of the parliament, secretary of Jatiya Sangsad, chairman and members of the parliamentary committee were made respondents in the petition. Earlier on July 9, a parliamentary probe committee charged that former speaker of the eighth parliament under the BNP-led alliance government, Barrister Jamiruddin Sircar, now a BNP MP, drew Taka 27 lakh as medical allowance without the permission of the then Prime Minister and leader of the House Khaleda Zia.

It alleged that the former speaker wasted huge amount of money in the name of beautifying the parliament secretariat during his tenure as Speaker from October 28, 2001 to January 25, 2009. It also said Sircar appointed staff in the parliament secretariat without maintaining district quotas. The parliamentary body that investigated into allegation of irregularities during the tenure of former speaker asked parliament to strip Sircar of his MP status and recover around Tk 27.86 lakh from him which he had illegally spent. Formed on March 19, the probe body formed three sub-committees to conduct inquiry into the alleged widespread corruption in Parliament Secretariat during the seven years from November 2001 to January 25, 2009 when Speaker Abdul Hamid assumed office.

Two amici curiae decline submission
in Jamiruddin JS body hearing

The New Age: The High Court on Wednesday deferred till October 14 the hearing in the writ petition filed by former Jatiya Sangsad speaker Jamiruddin Sircar challenging the legality of the parliamentary panel formed to investigate corruption allegations against him as two amici curiae declined to make submissions. The High Court bench of Justice Tariq ul Hakim and Justice Borhanuddin on September 3 ordered the appointment of five amici curiae. As the matter came up for hearing on Wednesday, two of the amici curiae, Rafique-ul Huq and AF Hassan Ariff, told the court on ‘personal grounds,’ they would not make their submissions in the case.

The court replaced them with Supreme Court lawyers Ajmalul Hossain and AFM Mesbahuddin. Other amici curiae are M Zahir, Mahmudul Islam, and Abdul Wadud Bhuiyan. Mahmudul Islam and Zahir are now abroad while Abdul Wadud Bhuiyan is ill, the court sources said. Jamiruddin, also a BNP lawmaker, filed the writ petition on August 17 challenging the legality of the formation of the parliamentary subcommittee. In his petition, he also sought a stay order on the proceedings and recommendations made by the parliamentary subcommittee against him. The recommendations include cancellation of the parliament membership of Jamiruddin and legal action against him on corruption charges.

Jamiruddin challenged the legality of the committee formation, saying it was done without following due process of the law as no member of the house proposed the formation of such committees. The parliament speaker, Abdul Hamid, approved the formation of the committee in violation of the law and the Rules of Procedure of the parliament, Jamiruddin said in the petition, adding the committee has no right to investigate allegations against him.

The parliamentary subcommittee was formed on March 19 to conduct an inquiry into the alleged corruption in the parliament secretariat in seven years till the time when Abdul Hamid assumed the office of speaker. The committee on July 5, 2009 recommended the house should cancel the membership of Jamiruddin and charge him with contempt of parliament for not appearing in the parliamentary committee. The committee also recommended the house should ask him to refund the medical expenses of Tk 27.86 lakh and cancel appointments of Class III and IV employees recruited during his tenure.

Sircar's corruption: 2 of 3 amici curiae feel embarrassed

The New Nation: The High Court on Wednesday held back for five weeks the admissibility hearing on a writ petition challenging the locus standi of a parliamentary probe body to investigate corruption charges against ex-Speaker Barrister Jamiruddin Sircar, now a BNP lawmaker, as complications arose. A vacation bench of the High Court comprising Justice Tariq ul Hakim and Justice Borhan Uddin, upon time petition submitted by both parties, passed the order, fixing October 14 as the next date for hearing.

As the matter came up for hearing, two out of three court-appointed amici curiae-Barrister Rafique-ul Huq and AF Hassan Ariff-felt embarrassed and expressed inability respectively to aid the court over the writ petition. The bench, after hearings, replaced them instantly with Barrister Ajmalul Hossain, QC, and Supreme Court Bar Association president AFM Mesbahuddin, court sources said.

On September 3, the High Court, before issuing a rule, appointed three amici curiae for opinion on the legality of formation of a parliamentary body to investigate corruption allegations against the former speaker. Advocate TH Khan, the counsel for Sircar, told media men that "it is unprecedented in the judicial history to appoint amici curiae before issuing any rule on the writ petition".

Sircar filed on August 16 the writ petition challenging the validity of the all-party parliamentary body to probe allegations of financial anomalies and waste of public money against him as speaker, its recommendations and follow-up activities. On March 19, speaker advocate Abdul Hamid constituted the all-party parliamentary body, first in the history of parliament in Bangladesh, to inquire into the allegations against his predecessor.

The parliamentary probe body, headed by Adv Fazle Rabbi Mia, finalized its report on July 5, recommending that Sircar's present parliament membership be scrapped on the graft charges. Furthermore, the lawmakers' panel recommended recovering Tk 27.86 lakh the ex-speaker had taken as medical bill "in breach of the rules", cancelling the appointments of 3rd-and 4th-class employees he had given as he was the one responsible for the waste by appointing those staff members when the eighth parliament had already ceased to exist. The all-party panel had its report based on the findings and recommendations of three subcommittees it formed to dig out the irregularities.