Attorney General AJ Mohammad Ali stepped down from the country`s highest law officer`s post yesterday (Jan 24) in the wake of increasing demand for his resignation.

"I have resigned and sent my resignation letter to the president," Mohammad Ali confirmed when The Daily Star contacted him over telephone yesterday afternoon.

He, however, declined to disclose the reasons for his resignation.

When journalists tried to meet Mohammad Ali at his office immediately after his resignation to verify the news and its reasons, they were told that he would meet them in the evening.

But Mohammad Ali did not meet the reporters and sent an advocate instead around 5:00pm, who told newsmen that the attorney general resigned on personal ground.

Son of Bangladesh`s first attorney general MH Khandakar, Mohammad Ali was appointed in the post on April 30, 2005 after the then attorney general, AF Hassan Ariff, resigned. Mohammad Ali was appointed additional attorney general on October 23, 2001.

The Awami League and its allies in the grand alliance and a section of lawyers demanded Mohammad Ali`s resignation from the post of attorney general, alleging his bias towards the BNP-led four-party coalition.

The Attorney General`s Office went into overdrive, speeding up or slowing down a few court orders for the Election Commission (EC) to capitalise on its dubious moves that suited the purpose of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)-led alliance.

Of late, judgment copies have either been delivered overnight from the court or delayed by weeks apparently to upset the execution process. Observers credit the erratic pace of the Attorney General`s Office to its office bearers, most of who are directly involved with the BNP and Jamaat politics.

The Japanese boat purchase graft case against HM Ershad and the Supreme Court stay order freeing election candidates from the obligation of disclosing personal details to the EC are the two most recent controversial instances of this.

The Attorney General`s Office was also found hyperactive on November 30 when it put three writ petitions to rest that challenged Prof Iajuddin Ahmed`s becoming the caretaker government chief.

There have also been demands for resignation of other law officers at the Attorney General`s Office since they were appointed on political consideration.



By News Desk
The Daily Star