Dhaka, Jun 13 (bdnews24.com)—The President's office has forwarded to the Ministry of Law the application a Supreme Court lawyer had filed seeking punishment to Justice AHM Shamsuddin Choudhury, asking it to act as per the law.

A letter sent by the Human Resource Department of the Bangabhaban along with the application reached the ministry on Tuesday. bdnews24.com has a copy of the letter signed by Senior Assistant Secretary Jannatul Nayeem.

The letter also discussed initiating an investigation into the allegation brought against the judge and constitution of Supreme Judicial Council under the existing rules.

"The Law Ministry does not have the authority to take measure in matters like this. The law does not provide for taking such measure either," Law Minister Shafique Ahmed told bdnews24.com on Wednesday when asked about the letter.

He maintained that the matter fell solely within the President's authority.

"The position of a Supreme Court judge is constitutional. We cannot take any step regarding the matter. So, we have decided to keep the matter in the file."

On Jun 5, the lawyer, Mozammel Hoque, in his complaint submitted to the Bangabhaban, alleged that during court proceedings, Justice Choudhury had misbehaved with him by drawing an analogy between him and a monkey.

In his complaint, the lawyer had alleged, "On May 31, Justice AHM Shamsuddin Choudhury rebuked me using unspeakable language for no reason and became furious enough to compare me with a monkey, which is unprecedented in the court."

He drew the President's attention to demand action against the judge by constituting Supreme Judicial Council to ensure and uphold 'the rule of law, image of the judiciary, and protect the Constitution.'

On Tuesday, Justice Choudhury in a suo moto ruling ordered Mozammel Hoque to appear before it on July 15 to explain why he had complained to the President.

In the ruling, the judge had asked the lawyer why he would not be punished for contempt of court for undermining the court's authority, dignity and sanctity and why the BAR council should not be directed to take action against the lawyer.

Ruling Awami League MPs also demanded the judge's removal on the same day the lawyer had lodged the complaint after Justice Choudhury stated that Speaker Abdul Hamid committed sedition by commenting against a High Court verdict.

The Speaker, however, later said that he would give a ruling.

Justice Choudhury was appointed as Additional High Court judge during the tenure of Awami League on July 25, 2001. He served in the High Court on temporary basis until Mar 25, 2009.

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