Dhaka: Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Huq and Food Minister Qamrul Islam did not require resigning on grounds of oath violation, says Law Minister Anisul Huq.

‘The provision of disqualifying lawmakers is clearly stated in Article 66, but it is not applicable for the ministers,’ he told a media briefing at his office as approached for comments on controversy sparked after a recent Supreme Court verdict involving the two ministers, reports BSS.

He added: ‘As a lawyer [by background] I don't think there is any necessity for them to resign.’

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on 27 March pronounced a judgment convicting them of making ‘contempt of court’ over a pending case of war crimes trial and on 1 September issued the full text of that verdict, saying, the ministers have ‘violated their oaths’.

Huq said five of the eight-member apex court panel judges did not say that the two ministers lost their office due to violating their oaths.

‘They (only) said the ministers have violated oath and we are sentencing them for that. The other three judges clearly said that this issue (oath violation) did not appear during their trial and no rule was issued in this regard (either),’ the minister said.

Huq said since Bangladesh was still a very young democracy, no law, provision or convention was there for penalizing ministers for oath violation.

‘Ministry lacks jurisdiction to set up secretariat for judiciary’

Narsingdi: Law Minister Anisul Huq on Wednesday said his ministry has no jurisdiction to establish a separate secretariat for the judiciary.

‘As per the Rules of Business, the Allocation of Business and the Constitution, the Law Ministry can’t establish a secretariat,’ he said.

In the wake of media reports that the Law Ministry is not giving due attention to the Chief Justice’s call for establishing a separate secretariat for the judiciary, Anisul came up with the remarks while inaugurating the extended building of the Narsingdi district judge court, reports UNB.

On Monday, senior most High Court judge Justice Syed Muhammad Dastagir Husain alleged that the Law Ministry does not pay enough attention to the Chief Justice’s call for establishing a separate secretariat for the judiciary.

The Law minister said it had been clearly mentioned about the independence of the judiciary in the 1972 Constitution. ‘It’s also been stated in the current Constitution. Sheikh Hasina honours the judiciary’s independence and she is strongly committed to protecting it.’

He said the judiciary is now completely independent, and it will remain so in the days to come.

Turning to militancy, Anisul called upon all, including lawyers, to get united to eliminate the menace.

Later, the minister joined a programme arranged by Narsingdi Bar Association.

Speaking at the programme, he emphasised healthy relations between the Bench and the Bar for ensuring justice.