SC fines two ministers Tk 50 thousand each

The Supreme Court fined Food Minister Qamrul Islam and Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Huq Tk 50 thousand each for committing contempt of court by making contemptuous statements about the chief justice.

The court ordered them to pay the fine within seven days, in default; they have to serve seven days in jail.

The eight-member full Appellate Division bench headed by the Chief Justice (CJ) Surendra Kumar Sinha passed the order on Sunday morning.

On March 8, a nine-member apex court bench, headed by the CJ, issued the contempt rule on the two ministers and asked them to explain their ‘derogatory and highly contemptuous statements’ and appear before it.

The two ministers on March 5, 6 criticised the CJ after the CJ expressed dissatisfaction over ‘poor performance’ of prosecutors and investigators of the International Crimes Tribunal in dealing with the war crimes case against Jamaat-e-Islami leader Mir Quasem Ali.