Moudud, who has recently been relentless in dissociating himself from the pardon controversy by shifting the blame on the home ministry, stayed mum about the issue yesterday.

Even the lawyers, who were representing the law minister in the High Court yesterday in a corruption case filed against him, side-stepped the matter before the press.

Moudud was vigorously defending the pardon decision till Saturday. But during a press briefing at his office yesterday, he bucked the questions regarding the issue and said from now on he would not welcome any question or entertain any request for comment about the clemency.

The law minister's recent statements have aroused controversy not only about the role of his ministry, but also about those of the president and the prime minister.

The situation in last few days apparently led to rumours that Moudud might be asked to step down as the law minister.

Well-placed sources said the rumours surfaced after some quarters in the government had discussed among themselves removal of Moudud from office 'for his outspoken comments that have made the situation even worse for the government'.

Then after the law minister met Prime Minister Khaleda Zia on Saturday, the rumours started coming thick and fast.

A government quarter was in favour of removing Moudud, while some others in the government opposed the idea on the point that if he resigns over the clemency issue it may give rise to clamour for resignations of the president and the prime minister.

"Since the president and the prime minister were also involved in the process of granting pardon to Jhintu, their roles too will be called into question if Moudud is removed. Ousting him will amount to admitting that there was something wrong in the process," a government high official said on condition of anonymity.

Against this backdrop, the government now seems to prefer not to make any further statement and bury the issue.

Maintaining that the process followed in granting the presidential pardon to Jhintu was legal, a senior minister told The Daily Star yesterday, "By making varying interpretations of the law minister's statements, newspapers have made the issue embarrassing for the government."

The government high-ups believe the controversy will subside if the newspapers stop writing on it.

Asked whether any kind of discussion at any level of the government was held on the possibility of Moudud resigning, he said he was not aware of such a discussion, adding that the rumours might have originated from the law minister's meeting with the prime minister.

When requested some high officials declined to make comment on Moudud's role. One said, "I've nothing to say on his role. He has said what he has to say."

One of ruling BNP lawmakers seeking anonymity yesterday told The Daily Star that the law minister had in fact put the president and prime minister into an embarrassing situation by trying to evade his responsibility.

He said the clemency was granted lawfully but the way Moudud dealt with the issue was really unfortunate.

The major role in granting the pardon was played by the concerned ministries, and what the president and the prime minister did was mere formalities.

MOUDUD'S CONTRADICTORY STATEMENTS
When the parliamentary standing committee on law, justice and parliamentary affairs ministry blasted the law minister for not giving an opinion (in the summary prepared for Jhintu's clemency) after examining all documents, Moudud blamed the home ministry for concealing facts in the summary.

While briefing reporters recently, the law minister had claimed that he would have opposed granting pardon to Jhintu, had the home ministry included all necessary facts in the summary. He also said that his ministry did not furnish the president with any opinion in favour or against the pardon.

He also said that the prime minister should not be blamed as she made her decision on the basis of the summary [prepared by the home ministry]. It was rather the duty of the officials at the Prime Minister's Office to examine all facts before forwarding it (summary) to the President's Office for final decision, he told reporters at his office on July 24.

Then making a U-turn on Saturday, Moudud attempted to rationalise the presidential pardon, saying that Jhintu's name was not in the FIR (first information report) and there was no witness against him.

He told the reporters that his ministry would recommend pardon for anyone, who has been sentenced by a martial law court, and his name was not in the FIR or there was no witness against him.

Although the law minister met the prime minister on Saturday, he denied it while talking to the journalists at around 2:30pm the same day.

But news agency UNB reported that Moudud had admitted to the meeting. "I was not asked by the prime minister, but I sought an appointment from her to discuss certain issues," UNB quoted the law minister as saying.

When reporters raised the issue of Jhintu's clemency yesterday, the law minister did not say anything. He kept his discussion with reporters confined to reserved seats for women .

MOUDUD'S CORRUPTION CASE
Now defunct Bureau of Anti-Corruption during BNP's 1991-96 rule had filed a case against Moudud for corruption while he was the industry minister of former military ruler HM Ershad's government.

Moudud had filed a petition for quashing the case and it was a part heard earlier. Yesterday was fixed for further hearing and it was item No. 4 on the cause list of a High Court division bench. But Moudud's counsel sought for more time for the hearing, which the court granted.

When this correspondent contacted one of the lawyers to know about the court decision, he skipped the issue, saying that the developments were nothing significant.

Meantime, Sammilito Ainjibi Parishad of Narayanganj yesterday protested inviting the law minister to a reception ceremony for the newly elected Narayanganj District Bar Association committee. The function is scheduled to be held on August 2 at Narayanganj Club Auditorium.

The Parishad yesterday asked the organisers to scrap the plan for having the law minister as the chief guest at the programme.