Barister Mohammad Arshadur Rauf, acting Attorney General, has said that during the Awami League’s tenure, the judiciary was politicised and injustice prevailed over fair trial.
He added that the judicial system was often used as a tool for political persecution.
Speaking at a reception for Chief Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury on Sunday, Arshadur Rauf said, “The judiciary was manipulated to enforce political victimisation. The pleas of helpless, oppressed citizens could not reach the courts. The voice of justice remained unheard. Women, men, and children suffered, but the judiciary failed to raise the banner of justice.”
The event was held in the Appellate Division’s No 1 courtroom, organised by the Attorney General’s office and the Supreme Court Bar Association.
Arshadur Rauf said courts should be the final and safest refuge for the people’s hopes.
“During past autocratic regimes, the judiciary offered no protection to the vulnerable. Over the past fifteen years, corruption seeped into the courts. Both unnecessary delays and politically motivated rapid trials undermined judicial independence. People’s expectations from the judiciary were buried.”
He added that the successful student-led uprising opened a door for restoring the judiciary’s lost prestige.
The acting Attorney General warned that corruption remains the judiciary’s greatest challenge.
“This malignancy affects all officials and staff involved in judicial work. While economic corruption is damaging, intellectual corruption is far deadlier—more destructive than dynamite, more catastrophic than an atomic bomb, more fatal than cancer. The judiciary must be purged of corruption at all levels” he added.
He emphasised the judiciary’s role as the nation’s overseer.
“When the other two organs of the state fail, act unlawfully, or commit injustice, the judiciary intervenes, prevents wrongdoing, and ensures accountability. Judges must remain committed to truth and justice, free from bias or personal interest. Only by upholding integrity and devotion can the courts preserve public trust, withstand criticism, and resist undue influence” he mentioned.
