Published :
Updated :
For all latest news, follow The Financial Express Google News channel.
A writ petition has been filed with the High Court seeking its directives upon the concerned bodies of the government to remove the iron cages from all the courtrooms of the lower judiciary across the country.
Supreme Court (SC) lawyer Mohammad Shishir Manir, on behalf of the 10 other SC lawyers, filed the petition on Tuesday.
The petition has already been mentioned in the HC bench of Justice Mustafa Zaman Islam and Justice Md Atabullah for hearing. The bench may hold a hearing on the petition next week, said lawyer Shishir Manir.
On October 16, 2023, these 10 lawyers sent a legal notice to the Law Secretary, Home Secretary, and Inspector General of Police, asking them to remove the iron cages from all the courtrooms of the lower judiciary across the country within four weeks.
If the notice recipients do not take measures within four weeks to remove the cages from courtrooms, a writ petition will be moved before the High Court, seeking necessary directives on them to execute it, also read the notice.
Since the lawyers didn't get any response from the respondents, they filed the writ petition, said the lawyer.
The iron cages inside the courtrooms are the places where the accused stand during case proceedings. The notice said the use of iron cages in courtrooms is inhumane and contradictory to the law and Constitution.
The writ petition also sought a direction from the court upon the respondents to submit a list of the courtrooms where the iron cages have been set up.
It also sought a rule upon the respondents to explain as to why setting up iron cages in the courtrooms should not be declared illegal and as to why the respondents should not be directed to set up wooden docks instead of iron cages in the courtrooms across the country.
Lawyer Shishir Manir said, "A review of domestic and international laws and regulations and High Court precedents shows that the use of iron cages in the courtrooms is inhumane. This is also contradictory to the international regulations, including Article 35(5) of the Constitution of Bangladesh."
Removal of the iron cage from the courtrooms is absolutely necessary to uphold the natural dignity of human beings and ensure protection of fundamental rights, also said the lawyer.
G M Muzahidur Rahman, Mohammad Noab Ali, Mohammad Saddam Hossen, Abdullah Sadiq, Mizanul Hoque, Muzahidul Islam, Mesbah Uddin, Zobaidul Islam, Azim Uddin Patwary, and Sazzad Sarwar filed the writ petition.