Sinha tarnishes image of judiciary: AG

Attorney General Mahbubey Alam (left) and former Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha. Photo: UNB
Attorney General Mahbubey Alam (left) and former Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha. Photo: UNB

Attorney general Mahbubey Alam on Tuesday alleged former chief justice Surendra Kumar Sinha has tarnished the image of the country's judiciary, reports UNB.

"SK Sinha made derogatory comments about his colleagues which is unacceptable and by doing so, he tarnished the image of the judiciary," Mahbubey Alam said while speaking at a press briefing at his office.

"It'll spread bad odour and tarnish the judiciary's image further if the reason for which the Appellate Division judges refused to sit with SK Sinha is exposed," he continued.

The attorney general said the former chief justice also did not clarify why his colleagues did not want to sit with in the courtroom.

Replying to a query about the comments made against the current judges in SK Sinha's book, he said, "It's the matter of judges. If they want, they can go for action against him but I don't want to make any comment without going through the book."

Amid the row over some of his observations in the 16th amendment verdict, justice SK Sinha, the 21st chief justice of the country, went on leave on 2 October last and left for Australia on 13 October.

Just before his departure, Sinha told reporters that he was not sick, contradicting the government claim that he went on leave on health grounds.

A day after Sinha's trip to Australia, the Supreme Court issued a statement saying the chief justice was facing 11 charges, including graft, moral turpitude and money laundering.

On 11 November, SK Sinha resigned from his post as chief justice of Bangladesh. President Abdul Hamid received his resignation letter.

Recently, he wrote a book styled 'A Broken Dream: Rule of Law, Human Rights and Democracy' where he claimed that he was forced to step down.