Four law officers resign amid row over appointment

Four state law officers resigned from Bangladesh’s Attorney General’s Office amid continuing unrest over recent appointments and the cancellation of earlier recruitments.

The departing officers are Additional Attorney General Abdul Jabbar Bhuiyan, Deputy Attorney General Mamun Chowdhury, and Assistant Attorneys General Rohani Siddiqua and Projjal Chakma. They cited professional or personal reasons in their resignation letters. Attorney General Ruhul Quddus Kazal said Bhuiyan referred to professional commitments, Chowdhury cited the effect of his government duties on his chamber and legal practice, and the other two cited personal reasons.

Kazal said he did not know of any pressure on the officers to resign. Bhuiyan also denied facing external pressure or discomfort that led to his decision. “The attorney general is much junior to me by age and profession, but he addresses me as ‘Sir’, which is a discomfort to me,” Bhuiyan told The Daily Star. He said he had no complaints against anyone and that colleagues had not disrespected or mistreated him.

AG office sources said another 10 to 12 law officers could resign after being asked to step down over alleged links to the Awami League, whose activities have been banned. Earlier, two assistant attorneys general resigned amid similar allegations. Bhuiyan became additional attorney general on Aug. 13, 2024, after serving as president of the Supreme Court unit of the Jatiyatabadi Ainjibi Forum and vice-president of the Supreme Court Bar Association.

On July 30, the government appointed 86 Supreme Court lawyers as deputy attorneys general and 179 as assistant attorneys general after revoking all previous appointments. Lawyers left out of the new appointments have since protested at the AG office, and two groups clashed during a Sept. 1 demonstration at the Supreme Court Bar Association. On June 23, 18 Jamaat-e-Islami-backed law officers also resigned in protest over the BNP government’s failure to implement the July charter, its opposition to an independent judiciary secretariat and its plan to repeal the Supreme Court Judge Appointment Ordinance.

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The attorney general is much junior to me by age and profession, but he addresses me as ‘Sir’, which is a discomfort to me.