A Supreme Court lawyer on Saturday issued a legal notice to Sarjis Alam, Dhaka North coordinator of the National Citizen Party, demanding an unconditional public apology for a Facebook post deemed disrespectful to the judiciary.
Lawyer Md Jashim Uddin served the notice at the party’s office address and via WhatsApp, asking Sarjis Alam to apologise to the chief justice in an open press briefing within two hours of receiving the notice.
In the post published on Thursday, Sarjis Alam wrote: ‘What is the necessity of the High Court if High Court verdict is taken through creation of mob justice?’
The legal notice stated that the comment amounted to a direct affront to one of the pillars of the state — the judiciary — and was violating, disregarding, and contemptuous toward the Supreme Court of Bangladesh.
Advocate Jashim warned that failure to issue an apology would prompt him to file a contempt petition with the appropriate court.
According to the notice, Sarjis Alam’s Facebook post came shortly after the High Court summarily rejected a writ petition filed by Supreme Court lawyer Mamunur Rashid, who challenged the legality of a lower court order.
The writ petition was rejected as it was not maintainable, the notice said.
That the lower court instructed the Election Commission to replace Awami League leader Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh with Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader Ishraque Hossain as mayor of Dhaka South City.