HC seeks list of courtrooms with iron cages instead of docks
The High Court today (4 January) asked the law secretary to submit a list of courtrooms in the country that have iron cages instead of docks.
The secretary has been asked to submit a list within the next 60 days.
An HC bench of Justice Mustafa Zaman Islam and Justice Md Atabullah issued the order following the hearing of a writ petition, filed by 10 Supreme Court lawyers on 31 January in this regard.
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The court also issued a ruling asking authorities concerned why the installation of iron cages in the courtroom should not be declared as inconsistent with Articles 31, 32 and 35 of the Constitution and why it should not be ordered to restore the docks instead of the iron cages.
The law secretary, the senior secretary of the Public Security Division and the inspector general of police have been made respondents to the rule.
They have been asked to respond within four weeks.
Supreme Court lawyer Mohammad Shishir Manir represented the petitioners in the court.
The writ petitioners are: GM Mujahidur Rahman, Muhammad Misbah Uddin, Md Jobaidur Rahman, Mohammad Nawab Ali, Azimuddin Patwari, Mohammad Sajjad Sarwar, Md Mujahidul Islam, Mohammad Saddam Hossain, Mohammad Mizanul Haque, and Abdullah Sadiq.
Prior to filing the writ petition, the lawyers had sent a legal notice to the law secretary, the senior secretary of the Public Security Division and the inspector general of police to remove the iron cages from the courtroom.
They asked the authorities to remove the iron cage from the courtroom within four weeks of receiving the notice.
They filed the writ petition after no steps were taken to that end.
Lawyer Shishir Manir said in the past, there was no such iron cage in the lower courts and tribunals of the country. But now there are more than a hundred such cages in courts, most of which are located in Dhaka.
Such a cage system is inconsistent with Articles 31, 32 and 35 (5) of the Constitution, he said, adding that Article 35(5) of the Constitution states that no one can be treated cruelly and inhumanly.
"However, through this cage system, the citizens are being treated cruelly, inhumanely and barbarically," he said.
The writ petition also sought an interim order to prevent the bailed accused from being put in iron cages in the courtroom till the ruling is settled.
