Four Deputy Attorneys General (DAGs) have been served with show-cause notices after they were accused of threatening Attorney General Barrister Md Ruhul Quddus Kazal and disrupting official work inside his office, in an unprecedented disciplinary move.

The notices, issued on Sunday on the Attorney General's instructions, direct the four law officers to explain within three working days why disciplinary action should not be taken against them for alleged misconduct.

The officials are Md. Zahirul Islam (Sumon), Md. Rafiqul Islam (Montu), Muhammad Masud Rana, and Md. Ashikuzzaman (Nazrul).

According to the notices, the four DAGs entered the Attorney General's office at around 1:45 pm while he was performing official duties and allegedly behaved in an "unruly" manner in the presence of litigants and other law officers.

They are also accused of intimidating and threatening the Attorney General, including warning that "undesirable incidents" could occur. The alleged incident was recorded on the office's CCTV system, the notices said.

Signed by Administrative Officer Md. Nasir Uddin, the notices describe the alleged conduct as "serious misconduct" and an obstruction to government work, asking the four officials to submit written explanations within three working days.

One of the accused, Deputy Attorney General Md. Zahirul Islam, rejected the allegations, saying he first learned of the notice through social media.

"No such incident took place," he told Prothom Alo newspaper.

Zahirul alleged that since assuming office, the current Attorney General has kept many deputy attorneys general and assistant attorneys general from appearing before court benches by not assigning them cases.

He said the Attorney General had called the meeting after the law officers sought bench assignments. During the meeting, Deputy Attorney General Rafiqul Islam Montu, speaking on behalf of the group, requested that they be allowed to conduct cases in court.

According to Zahirul, the Attorney General replied that assigning lawyers to court benches was solely within his discretion.

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